UKC

I'm heading to the US in a couple of weeks for a week's climbing in Zion.

Is BMC considered the "defacto" for climbing trip insurance or is it worth looking elsewhere? BMC are quoting £185. Snowcard, who I've not come across before are quoting £95.

Cheaper quotes are all very well and good unless they are tricky to get to pay out when needed.

I already have an annual travel insurance policy which covers things like cancellations, lost baggage, etc so I'm not bothered about the level of cover there but I want to make sure that I'm not lumped with a 7 figure hospital bill in the event of a climbing mishap.

If I ended up with a climbing insurance policy that had baggage cover in it, is there anything preventing me claiming for baggage on both policies if it went missing?

Thanks

With respect to the last paragraph, I'm pretty sure that would be classed as fraud. So that might be an issue for some!

I’m sure you’re right and it’s probably not the best idea but to pay Devil’s advocate; effectively insurance is a bet with the insurance company that I don’t lose my stuff. Having 2 policies could be looked at like 2 separate paid up bets. 
 

disclaimer. As you say, it’s probably considered fraud legally so I wouldn’t do this

20 years ago, I made a very large claim on snowcard.I don't know how large exactly as I was in hospital in california at the time and my dad did the paperwork. Not sure if they've changed since then but there were no issues at the time. 

I had a minor claim with Snowcard not too long ago (broken leg), and they were great. Best insurance company I've ever dealt with.

Regarding the double baggage claim, no you can't claim twice and you would be very silly to try. They all talk to eachother and swap data, and they love prosecuting fraudulent claims. What they do when you claim is ask if you are covered by anyone else too. If you are, they split the costs between them. You won't gain anything out of it though.

One of the questions on the claim form is 'Do you have another insurance policy that may cover your claim '. If you say no and claim on both, they will find out. There's a central claims register.

If you have cover with two companies, presumably each would prefer the other one to pay up. Is the decision entirely up to you? Can you play them off against each other for the larger amount?

Possibly not, if you declare fully to both insurers. They’ll resolve the compensation between them. The desire to avoid a criminal record for fraud might stop you trying to profit from having two policies.

I sort-of did this a few years ago when my camera drowned in the hotel pool. Claimed on the travel insurance to avoid a hit on the house insurance and the first question they asked was was it covered by any other policy - I said "no".

Side note - that cycling incident in London a few years ago finally pushed me into taking out British Cycling membership to get the attached 3rd party insurance. Discussing with my Uncle (used to own an insurance brokers), he said it was effectively pointless, as they'd always try to shift the claim onto the liability portion of your house insurance. The house insurance, however, doesn't include a race licence (and a few other minor benefits).

I've used Voyager travel insurance in the past - there's an enhanced option that includes climbing, but you'd need to check the specifics. When I did the Etape, I phoned them up and they added specific insurance for that 1-day event, so worth giving them a call.

When I went biking in Nepal, though, I ended up using BMC insurance, as Voyager wouldn't cover that.

I used https://www.truetraveller.com/?utm_content=80058224612794&utm_term=true... when I went to Utah just before Covid, but didn't claim.

Whatever you go with, make sure it covers repatriation so that, should an accident occur, you can be flown home rather than having to wait till an American hospital releases you. 

*Edit: I haven't actually checked either policy for this

 BMC are quoting £185. 

That's quite good, three weeks Trekking insurance in the USA cost me £300 with the BMC. The joys of being over 60. 

Snow card were pretty when I had to make a claim some years ago so I tend to use them most of the time.

It mght be worth checking that your 2 quotes are genuinely like for like as I don't think that I have ever seen such a big price difference between Snowcard and BMC.

You could also try TrueTraveller. You can add things into the policy to get what you need. I used them for Indian Creek in April and they were good value.

On a side note, make sure you have LDW insurance on your car and try not to drive around the deserts at night. We wrote the car off hitting a deer at 50mph and with LDW the replacement arrived within 24hrs and was free of extra charges.

Perhaps worth pointing out that, despite the high prices, the BMC shouldn't necessarily be regarded as the gold standard (sadly). No personal experience, because I was always too cheap to choose them, but various threads here over the years have seen people relating stories where the BMC's insurance didn't entirely shine.

Snowcard’s base quote doesn’t have things like baggage and cancellation cover included but BMC was a more “belt and braces” policy. I’ve got all the non-climbing stuff covered on my existing annual policy though