UKC

I'm heading off to Spain (catalunya) for my first ever foreign climving holiday.
It will be all single pitch sport climbing, does anyone have any recommendations for an insurance company.

I'm happy to pay a little extra and use a company that people have had trouble free experience claiming from

In reply to SomeClimbingGuy:

If you're doing single pitch sport you might want to consider what scenario you would actually need insurance if you already have a health card.

In reply to Morgan Woods:
One word: repatriation. Even if the foreign country's health care is covered under a UK reciprocal arrangement, repatriation won't be. And flying back with any sort of serious injury will rapidly cost >£10K.

In reply to SomeClimbingGuy:

I'm a member of the Austrian Alpine Club UK, largely for the insurance cover. Details are here http://aacuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/AV-WWS-Folder_E_2015_ebook.p...

You also get discounts in huts and various other benefits.

IPP

In reply to SomeClimbingGuy:

Probably hard to beat the BMC's insurance - it seems to be pretty much quibble free unlike a lot of insurance companies where you suddenly find you weren't covered because you were using the wrong colour carabiners.

In reply to IPPurewater:

I've not had to claim on it, but AAC UK has always had good feedback from people that have claimed - and if you're doing several trips is considerably cheaper than BMC.

In reply to SomeClimbingGuy:

I use Ski club of Great Britain (as they also cover skiing fairly obviously). There cat4 covers climbing with ropes and is reasonably priced for a year.

In reply to BarrySW19:

It's easy to beat BMC Insurance. For starters it costs a fortune, even more for non members and secondly there have been some issues with claims in recent years although I would have to admit my knowledge of this is only third hand but there are examples on this forum. Now I'm over 65 they want to charge me even more whereas AAC charge me less.

I've been with AAC for some years after BMC rates went through the roof. Previously I had always used Annual BMC Insurance. I think they need to get things sorted out with their underwriters.

Having said all that I would probably still use them for trips to more exotic, out of the way locations

In reply to SomeClimbingGuy:

We were just in Spain and a friend of ours took a ground fall from 20 meters, 'luckily' he only fractured his heels and punctured a lung. We went with club direct insurance who were a bit of a mixed bag, they were poor at organising accommodation while waiting to be flown back to the UK, but they did pay out an enormous sum to fly my friend back in a private plane with a doctor. So they were OK, but perhaps a little unwilling to pay out, though I'm not entirely sure what company wouldn't be.

For the guy asking why you'd want more than an EHIC: That depends on whether you're happy to stay in a hospital for a month or more until you're cleared to fly on a commercial flight, or whether you'd prefer to be repatriated quickly and stay somewhere other than a hospital while you wait for that flight.

In reply to Dennis999:

All EHIC does is give you access to the country's healthcare on the same basis as the locals - don't assume this will be the same as you'd get on the NHS. It may not be free, or you might have to pay and then reclaim the costs. You should look at this:

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.asp...

and also check the details for the relevant country. At a quick glance it looks as if in Spain you're covered for all medically-necessary treatment. However EHIC is NOT a substitute for insurance and won't cover rescue, repatriation or of course travel delays, loss of luggage etc.

In reply to Dennis999:



Thanks for clarifying - my focus has tended to be on winter rescue rather than potential sport climbing repatriation. I'm with AAC by the way.

In reply to Morgan Woods:

I have used snowcard for years and they are very good.

In reply to SomeClimbingGuy:

Sorry for the rubish replies haha.
Thanks for the responses, i looked into the AAC but it's not really what I'm after as I would need to also take out regular travel insurance separately for things like lost baggage and lengthy flight delays.

Has anybody had any dealings with sportscover direct?

In reply to SomeClimbingGuy:

nomad