Travel insurance for cycling holiday

[laurar]

Hi
I'm planning a cycling tour holiday in Laos for two weeks. Does anyone have any advice on good travel insurance?
Cheers, Laura

[georgew]

Hi
I'm planning a cycling tour holiday in Laos for two weeks. Does anyone have any advice on good travel insurance?
Cheers, Laura

As long as you're not my age it should be cheap enough. Try Tesco and I believe Argos is cheap also. It may be that the cheapest quote will be from the company that already provides you with house insurance.

[laurar]

Thanks for the info. Is it fine just to take out standard insurance? I wasn't sure whether I needed special cycling insurance?

[georgew]

It's personal insurance really but make sure that it covers both you and your bike's return home.

[Jac]

Hi Laurar,
I would not recomend just home insurance to cover your trip - there have been many publicised cases where this did not provide adequate cover - and they would not pay out.
When we needed to make a claim a couple of years ago for extensive hospital treatment on holiday I was extremely pleased that I had taken out specific cover -
and told the insurance company that we were touring on our bikes.

I would recomend that you go to an independant insurance broker.

Make sure they know all the activities that you are planning to do - and that the policy includes them and that you have adequate cover for medical treatment and repatriation.

No one thinks anything is going to happen to them - but it is worth making sure you are insured - even if it costs a little more.

Hope you have a good holiday

[Cyclefrance]

Hi Laura,

I always use Snowcard for European cycle touring - could be worth checking out for Laos

[epa611]

Do not use Cyclecover. Gave me loads of hassle about bills incurred when I fell off my bike in Sweden last year resulting in a broken arm.

Quibled about everything and I eventually gave up on the claim despite being nearly £400 out of pocket.

Do not use them under any circumstance

[cycletourer]

Hi Laura,

When you take out insurance check very carefully that they will repatriate you and your bikes.

We had Boots travel insurance last summer and we had told them that we were cycle touring and that our main form of transport were bicycles.

However when I hurt my back 2 days into the tour and we thought we would have to abandon the tour and get repatriated, my wife contacted the insurance company and they said they would repatriate us and our luggage but not our bikes!

Fortunately my back recovered after a few days and I carried on. However the insurance company insisted on a signed letter from the local doctor to say that I was fit to continue and explained if I didn't get this it would invalidate our insurance for the rest of the trip.

In planning our trip to Iceland this coming summer I've been in contact with Fortis Insurance company through a local broker. I checked with them that they will insure us for cycle touring and that they will repatriate us and the bikes should anything happen.

[CycleFan]

It's vital to get travel insurance!! Make sure you do a lot of research first though. There are some useful sites online which are worth looking at, such as this one on making a claim and this one is good for insurance FAQs. Keep looking and find out what you really need before you buy - Good luck!

[megilleland]

Following this statement from a SportsCover Direct Insurance VentureGuard Policy:

"Appearance in this list is not a guarantee that we cover travel within the country. We will not cover you for travel in areas where the Foreign & Commonwealth Office advise against. See FCO site for details"

Check out information here from the FCO concerning current travel advice in Laos - also section on insurance.

[simonhill]

My advice is usually DON"T read the FCO advice, likewise the Aussie Govt one (probably the worst) and plenty of other western govts too. They always seem to scaremonger, rarely if ever balancing the 'dangers' against the many things that are much safer in those countries.

I have travelled to Lao 7 times, 5 times by bike. The last time was earlier this year for 2 months mainly in the remote mountains along the Chinese and Vietnamese borders. I never felt unsafe, either from the (lovely) people or the very light traffic and many of the roads are better than the cart tracks we have in the UK. One ride in my home town in the UK presents far more dangers than a day in Lao.

Read if you must, but try to get a balance.

Currently I am in Thailand with 1800kms under my wheels, strangely I have experienced none of the dangers the FCO warn about for here. I have got the M25 to face when I get home (in a mate's car), now that frightens me! Give me SE Asia anyday.

[lloyd]

I'd agree with Simon's post re: FCO advice, I've not been to Laos but travelled in similar places in Central America.

Insurance wise, I definitely get some and hope you never need to use it. I wouldn't recommend standard policies, as often there are clauses excluding certain activities including cycle touring. Valuewise I'd recommend EssentialTravel.co.uk, I've never needed to claim yet though.

[megilleland]

My advice is usually DON"T read the FCO advice, likewise the Aussie Govt one (probably the worst) and plenty of other western govts too. They always seem to scaremonger, rarely if ever balancing the 'dangers' against the many things that are much safer in those countries.

The point I was highlighting is that insurance companies use this information in deciding whether to offer cover or not and this will be reflected in the premium.

Oddly enough I have been in hospital only twice in my 50 years, both as a result of cycling accidents. Both involving operations and 3 & 5 night stays. If this had happened abroad I would have been given a hefty bill unless the country had a reciprocal arrangement with the UK, plus I wouldn't have been fit or able to continue the tour and would have also needed assistance to get back home.

I know some people think insurance is a waste of time, but it at least stops your family or relatives and friends having to pick up the bill when you get into trouble.

[MartinBrice]

I have used snowcard for donkey's years now, for alpine climbing, scotland in winter, and cycle touring cover. my only advice is to buy some insurance that is reassuringly expensive - there's usually a good reason why cheap insurance is, well, cheap. Tesco is cheap but i guess would tend to be off-the-peg and more for cycling in majorca. Snowcard even covered us for a expedition to north-west greenland and that was seriously remote. And we used it for a climbing trip to southern greenland. They do know what they are doing - and although you will hope that you won't need it, when you are in trouble the last thing you want to be dealing with is a crap insurance company that thinks a spotty adolescent who works two days a week answering the phone will be able to cope with your claim. When you look at the total cost of a trip you'll see that insurance is a very small sum. Of course, that money is completely wasted if you don't get into trouble. But if you do, then it's an excellent investment.....

[anniesboy]

In contrast to a previous post,my wife and I use Cyclecover she had an accident, which resulted in a broken wrist ,four days in hospital in France.

Cyclecover organized new flights home.An ambulance for my wife , plus a people carrier for myself and our bikes and luggage to the airport which was a 100 miles away all at no extra cost to ourselves.