UKC

Does anyone have recent experience of getting insurance for Broad Peak or K2?

I think the BMC insures them, but they are kind of expensive. IHI Bupa who were a lot cheaper used to, but have now stopped insuring mountaineering. Several companies like Dogtag won't insure at all because the Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to the area.

I had considered using Global Rescue + some kind of regular travel insurance, but I notice that they have some pretty important small print, like unless you end up an inpatient in a hospital then they won't pay for anything, and you have to contact them in advance and rely on them to organise a helicopter or whatever if necessary. If you are incapacitated (not unlikely if you are in a situation where you need a rescue) and someone with you arranges a rescue without consulting them first, then they won't pay.
Anyone have experience of using Global Rescue?

In reply to Topper Harley:

Why not just go to a safer mountain region, where it is only mountaineering objective dangers that matter?

In reply to Al Evans:

I think the mountains are very safe there. We went to Spantik in Aug 2012 and had a wonderful time with no trouble at all.

I had BUPA ihi at the time, but realised halfway through that i was not insured anymore!

I think my friends used global rescue, but what about Austrian Alpine Club?

In reply to avinash1981:

Their cover will only cover a fraction of what would be needed for a rescue. They also don't cover "expeditions" which are any trip that requires more than one (!) day to climb the mountain. This is obviously unless they have changed their cover since I rang their insurer. The underwriting company can however give you a quote for proper insurance if needed

In reply to Al Evans:

Why not just climb in Europe?
...Why not just climb in England?
......Why not just climb around London?
.........Why not just climb inside in London?
............Why not just climb top rope inside in London?

+rep to the OP for having the balls to wander into a more interesting part of the world.

Shame about bupa not covering mountaineering anymore. For my humble trips I struggle (and fail) to get comprehensive insurance.

In reply to needvert:

I think your sarcasm is uncalled for, there are lots of reasons to avoid certain areas of the globe at any one time. Going there against FO advice seems a reasonable reason for insurance companies to be wary.

In reply to Topper Harley:

The same travel warning was on when I went there in 2011. We used BMC, it's expensive, but I'd rather not worry about it when it's at least a 3 day walk in full fitness to get to even basic civilisation.

The area skardu and beyond wasn't unsafe at all, driving there is not so safe and your insurance would be void in that region so I'd make sure you fly from IBAD to Skardu. I'd be wary of the Nanga Parbat region still.

In reply to John Roberts (JR):

Thanks for the advice JR. I would be flying from Islamabad to Skardu and back. Definitely not going near Nanga Parbat. Did you find any other companies that offered insurance for your trip or were the BMC the only one?

In reply to Topper Harley:


Famous last words... wait until you've been stuck in Skardu waiting for a flight out for a week!

Last time I went to Pakistan I used BMC, last year for Nepal I used Travelex Insurance Services with the 'adventurer' add-on. Not sure if there's an altitude limit. They paid up without any argument when I had to cancel due to a broken arm.

In reply to Topper Harley:

To be honest we didn't look, we just paid for it. One of the team had to claim on it and there was no issue, even without the "police report" needed within 48 hours in the terms.

They (BMC) realise you're probably not going to be able to get one of those within 48 hours if its 3 days walk and a days 4x4 (or a £10k chopper ride) to the nearest police station and were very pragmatic. For me for that kind of understanding it's worth it. At the end of the day, that's what you want it for.

This was before they changed underwriter though, so I don't know if things ave changed at all.

In reply to Topper Harley:

I have bought cover with Global Rescue but never had to use it. They have a pretty poor reputation, I guess you get what you pay for. One thing I would say though, is that it is worthwhile to make sure your contacts back in the UK who might liaise with rescuers / insurers in the event of the sh*t hitting the fan know the score with global rescue and know what to say to them to maximise the chance of them agreeing to cover you - for instance, if they don't know your exact location do not admit it as global rescue cover "rescue" but not "search".

On the other hand, there is one big plus of global rescue; they don't get hung up about the British FCO's current opinion of your holiday destination. With BMC I have never been sure what situation is if you book your insurance, then there is a revolution / kidnapping or whatever before you fly out. Are you still covered? Can you get your money back?

In reply to Topper Harley:

I insured with Global Rescue for a trip to Shishapangma last year. We never had to call on them so I have no idea how they would be. The BMC simply didn't want to insure us. We took the view that if something happened we would have to get ourselves out but that having some back up would be good. I had a fair bit of email contact with them and they did describe their service in a way that sounded as though it would support our efforts but then they would .... I haven't heard much about their reputation so can't comment on that. Good luck.
Rich

In reply to Boar of Badenoch:


Nope! When the Chinese closed Everest and Cho Oyu in 2008 for the Olympic torch BS we we're not covered. Luckily we we're able to recover most of the costs through goodwill.

In reply to Topper Harley:

we used http://www.hccmis.com/ for a recent self organised trip to Amadablam for the grand cost of $100 for cover - I had call to use them for evacuation due to HAPE/pulmonary infection, and a subsequent 4 day hospital stay in KTM - had to authorise the heli evac prior to arranging which took a few calls to the USA to sort but they covered cost immidiatley - but then I ended up paying for the hospital fees on CC (due to flight availability to get back home the night of my release)which then took about 3 months to be reimbursed but in the end only had $100 excess deducted - they were a bit of a pain to deal with from the pre authorisation arrangement- but they do cover expeditions above 6000mts and are US based so FO restriction may not affect cover?
if you need any further info let me know, I have the e-mail of the guy who arranged our cover who was very helpful
phill

In reply to the optimist:


Thanks, that seemed good, but then it says in feint print - "* Mountaineering at elevations of 7,000 meters or higher is not covered." which is just above the section talking about Mt Everest :-/

http://www.hccmis.com/mountaineering-insurance/

In reply to Topper Harley:

Only once managed to fly, every other time ended up driving either to Skardu or back from it. A few times did detour through mountains and joined KKH at Chilas due to warnings.