UKC

Hello I am soon to be going on a long sport climbing trip (few months) and am going to take out insurance has anybody taken out insurance for this sort of trip which isn't too expensive? i looked at bmc and i got a quote of about £250 does anyone know of getting it any cheaper from a different place - i don't really know what there is out there?

thankyou very much anna

In reply to annna g:

Have you thought about joining the Austrian Alpine Club (UK Section). Membership is about £40 a year and, as well as generous discounts off (some) Alpine huts, it includes World Wide Mountain Rescue cover. Note that it's ONLY that - enough to get you off the hill and into hospital - you'd still have to have standard travel insurance to cover your baggage, cancellations and all that sort of stuff - but that's cheap.

That's what I and most of my chums do.

In reply to annna g:

For 4 months climbing in Africa I used STAtravel. Their policy is fairly similar to the BMC's if you pick their highest level of cover and is more than adequate if you're just sport climbing (check their exceptions list to make sure everything you do is covered though!) I think I paid about £150.

In reply to annna g: cool thanks ver much i will have a look at both of those

In reply to annna g:
We did something similar this summer (3 month Euro trip). I'm sure that there is cheaper insurance out there but it is perhaps worth considering the peace of mind factor - if you get insurance from the BMC and need to use it then you aren't going to end up arguing with an insurance company over whether what you were doing falls within the policy definition of climbing or mountaineering (amazing how many different sub-categories exist for insurance purposes) and the various exclusions (complying with good practice, local advice etc). To be honest I had never worried too much about this till I got hit on the head by a rock whilst belaying at a 'solid' sport crag this summer. As it turned out a few stitches was all that was required, but it did make me think that things could easilly have turned out different and an extra £50-£100 would be money well spent if looking at a bill of a few thousand. Personal choice I guess and my initial reaction to the BMC quote was probs the same as yours!

In reply to annna g:

I used http://www.dogtag.co.uk/ for a few years because they covered me for climbing, kite-surfing/kite-snowboarding and off piste snowboarding.

Their backpacker insurance is the one to use for trips over 31 days. Should come in at around £150 for the extreme cover. Never had to claim though.

In reply to annna g: I've head first hand very bad things about dogtag, which I wont go into, suffice to say I wouldn't use them. My BMC annual is only £170 ish including winter sports, so should be less for sport climbing. Is there a reason you're not just using that such as 30 day single trip limit? I only have great things to say about the BMC after having to use them for a friend on a recent trip.

In reply to annna g: hmm yeah bmc i spose would be a safer option but will look at others the bmc annual insurance doesn't do single trips longer than 90 days and my trip will be longer than 90 days. i will look into other ones also. thanks anna