UKC

Hi all, 

I'm looking for some advice on long term-travel insurance to include multi-pitch rock routes.

I'm off on a year-long work / climbing trip to Australia and would like to have some sort of basic coverage, but most insurers I've seen have a massive premium. 

Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives? I've looked at combining standard travel insurance with AAC, but they seem to be best in Europe and have an 8-week trip maximum. Top-up insurance seems to be an option, but again, very expensive for a full year. 

Thanks in advance, any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Will

In reply to jonesdwill: if you are on a long trip with a work visa , does the Visa come with reciprocal rights on healthcare , meaning you'd be the same as an Australian? 

In reply to jonesdwill:

I remember having this problem on my working holiday visa. I remember Dogtag being one reputable insurer I looked at. I'll see if I can dig out my old emails to see who I went with in the end. I do remember the policy I ended up with stipulated that it didn't cover soloing which seemed fair enough! 

In reply to spidermonkey09:

Looks like I used Alpha: https://www.alphatravelinsurance.co.uk/

It was a while back though so ts and cs may well have changed, but worth a look.

In reply to jonesdwill:

If you have a working visa, you will be covered by Medicare. There are no charges for mountain rescue in Australia (except maybe in the Snowies in the ski area). It’s just not on the same scale as in Europe.

The big expensive rescues in Australia are people getting lost in remote areas. 

you can get insurance for repatriation (we bought that 20 years ago). It was very cheap, statistically you’re very unlikely to use it,but if you did,it would be financially catastrophic.

go to the Australian government website. It’s very good.

In reply to jonesdwill:

I'd wait and buy basic ambulance cover once you are here from one of the big insurance outfits (e.g. https://www.medibank.com.au/) they all offer basic options for non-residents. You are covered with Medicare so this is just top up.

Thanks all for the help. I always find it hard to gauge these things without first-hand experience. 

Some combination of Medicare + Ambulance Cover + Travel Insurance seems to be the best option, but I'll keep digging to see if I can get covered for repatriation too, just in case. 

In reply to jonesdwill:

UK residents receive free reciprocal healthcare but you must take out ambulance insurance (about AUD 120). Obviously you may wish to take out repatriation cover.