Travel Insurance for Orienteering
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Travel Insurance for Orienteering
Does anyone have any recommendations for travel insurance policies that cover orienteering and also accept significant pre-existing medical conditions, please? It's pretty easy to get one or the other, but both together seems harder, and given the ageing orienteering population must surely be not that unusual a requirement. (Some policies say they cover orienteering but then exclude competitive sport!)
- roadrunner
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
I had travel insurance for a ski holiday with a pre-existing condition with "Now Travel" and their premium was very reasonable. I would contact them to have a chat, the wording in the policy is:
"Unlike other policies we cover many sports and activities as standard; no additional premium is required for activities listed in Activity Pack 1. We have categorised the activities that are not covered as standard into seven further bands. If you do not see your chosen activity, do not worry, we may cover it, but you must contact us so we can discuss the activity and what, if any, additional premium is necessary. The activities are covered on the basis that your chosen activity is not the sole purpose of your trip (with the exception of winter sports whereby you can opt to have specific winter sporting activities included, which will be covered for the entire duration of your trip). (All of the activities are covered on a non-professional and non-competitive basis, unless otherwise stated. Any claims which arise whilst undertaking any of these activities for any purpose other than leisure (examples of non-leisure purposes include professional / semi-professional / paid / sponsored racing, timed events, professional, display events, photo shoots, etc...) will not be covered under this policy. If you are unsure please do not hesitate to contact NOW Travel Insurance Services on 0800 699 0860 and we can discuss your individual requirements. We consider ‘professional or competitive’ to be activities/sports where you are either paid for participating in, receive any element of sponsorship, fees or prize money in excess of £200. Please note those activities marked with an asterisk (*) do not have Personal Accident or Personal Liability cover.
Activity Pack 1 – Covered as standard: (snip) Orienteering"
With their definition of competitive sport I would classify orienteering as not competitive unless you're an elite.
"Unlike other policies we cover many sports and activities as standard; no additional premium is required for activities listed in Activity Pack 1. We have categorised the activities that are not covered as standard into seven further bands. If you do not see your chosen activity, do not worry, we may cover it, but you must contact us so we can discuss the activity and what, if any, additional premium is necessary. The activities are covered on the basis that your chosen activity is not the sole purpose of your trip (with the exception of winter sports whereby you can opt to have specific winter sporting activities included, which will be covered for the entire duration of your trip). (All of the activities are covered on a non-professional and non-competitive basis, unless otherwise stated. Any claims which arise whilst undertaking any of these activities for any purpose other than leisure (examples of non-leisure purposes include professional / semi-professional / paid / sponsored racing, timed events, professional, display events, photo shoots, etc...) will not be covered under this policy. If you are unsure please do not hesitate to contact NOW Travel Insurance Services on 0800 699 0860 and we can discuss your individual requirements. We consider ‘professional or competitive’ to be activities/sports where you are either paid for participating in, receive any element of sponsorship, fees or prize money in excess of £200. Please note those activities marked with an asterisk (*) do not have Personal Accident or Personal Liability cover.
Activity Pack 1 – Covered as standard: (snip) Orienteering"
With their definition of competitive sport I would classify orienteering as not competitive unless you're an elite.
- Rosine
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
Staysure and All Clear are worth a try. All Clear probably more competitive.
Medical conditions and orienteering not a problem. Not clear what they mean by 'taking part in a league or competition'. Not made a claim to test this out!!
Medical conditions and orienteering not a problem. Not clear what they mean by 'taking part in a league or competition'. Not made a claim to test this out!!
- Philip134
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
There was another thread on travel insurance last June, which may be of use (though I haven't checked to see if anyone addressed the OP's specific situation):
http://forum.nopesport.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14902
http://forum.nopesport.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14902
- ricardito
Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
Check Post Office travel - I think covers Orienteering and is reasonable, not sure about specific conditions
curro ergo sum
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King Penguin - addict
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
Rosine wrote:With their definition of competitive sport I would classify orienteering as not competitive unless you're an elite.
But would the insurer?
Philip134 wrote:Not clear what they mean by 'taking part in a league or competition'. Not made a claim to test this out!!
In my experience it is better to ask these questions of the insurance company before you have to make a claim, not afterwards!
- GML
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
GML wrote:In my experience it is better to ask these questions of the insurance company before you have to make a claim, not afterwards!
Good advice, and indeed I've just asked one insurer that uses the same form of words as the one quoted earlier. It seems totally inconsistent to define "professional or competitive" in the way they have, and then say they exclude "timed events", which would be pretty much everything in orienteering, athletics etc. If I get a response I'll post it here; another company gave me the vague definition of "if you're trying for a time then it's competitive", which is of course completely impossible to prove one way or the other.
- roadrunner
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
roadrunner wrote:if you're trying for a time then it's competitive", which is of course completely impossible to prove one way or the other.
no it's not.... time recorded at start and time recorded at finish = sport and not a recreation. Travel insurance will generaly cover recreational activities but not sports.... vast majority of Brits travellimg to WMOC are likely not covered by insurance.... used to be that the BOF insurance agent (can't remember the name) did a travel policy that specifically covered the sport of orienteering... we used it for GBR teams and WMOC runners were also offered it.
Go orienteering in Lithuania......... best in the world:)
Real Name - Gross
http://www.scottishotours.info
Real Name - Gross
http://www.scottishotours.info
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Gross - god
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
Gross wrote:roadrunner wrote:if you're trying for a time then it's competitive", which is of course completely impossible to prove one way or the other.
no it's not.... time recorded at start and time recorded at finish = sport and not a recreation. Travel insurance will generaly cover recreational activities but not sports.... vast majority of Brits travellimg to WMOC are likely not covered by insurance.... used to be that the BOF insurance agent (can't remember the name) did a travel policy that specifically covered the sport of orienteering... we used it for GBR teams and WMOC runners were also offered it.
Yes, I agree with you, but in this case they covered sport as long as it wasn't "competitive" (and I may have somewhat paraphrased what was actually said, but the gist of it was "if you're trying to run fast, it's competitive"). Some policies even specifically mention orienteering and then exclude competition - and I can't think of a single orienteering event that doesn't involve timing, except for some trail-O (hardly a major insurance risk!) and club training evenings (which you'd be unlikely to do when travelling).
- roadrunner
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
Have you tried contacting SportsCover Direct to see if they will cover you for the pre-existing condition, as they will cover orienteering competition?
From their website:
Can I get cover for a pre-existing medical condition on my policy?
It will depend upon what the condition is and the treatment being received, and it may be affected by the sport that you are planning to do. You would need to provide details which would be submitted to our underwriters, who would then agree the terms under which they would approve the condition. For some more common conditions we can tell you instantly whether or not you would be covered. Otherwise you can expect to hear within 24 hours (during the working week).
Will my medical condition affect the price of the policy?
No. The only difference it will make is whether or not we will include cover for any claims relating to that condition. Sometimes the answer is no. and sometimes we will apply a higher excess to any claims that were connected to that condition
I have used them just for Top Up for competition for 3 days with a pre-existing condition - high blood pressure(medicated) and knee replacement. They got back to me within just a few hours of making the enquiry to say they would cover, and there wasn't any extra cost.
I don't know how the cost of the insurance compares if you use them as your only insurer, for general travel and for competition.
From their website:
Can I get cover for a pre-existing medical condition on my policy?
It will depend upon what the condition is and the treatment being received, and it may be affected by the sport that you are planning to do. You would need to provide details which would be submitted to our underwriters, who would then agree the terms under which they would approve the condition. For some more common conditions we can tell you instantly whether or not you would be covered. Otherwise you can expect to hear within 24 hours (during the working week).
Will my medical condition affect the price of the policy?
No. The only difference it will make is whether or not we will include cover for any claims relating to that condition. Sometimes the answer is no. and sometimes we will apply a higher excess to any claims that were connected to that condition
I have used them just for Top Up for competition for 3 days with a pre-existing condition - high blood pressure(medicated) and knee replacement. They got back to me within just a few hours of making the enquiry to say they would cover, and there wasn't any extra cost.
I don't know how the cost of the insurance compares if you use them as your only insurer, for general travel and for competition.
- xxx
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
xxx wrote:Have you tried contacting SportsCover Direct to see if they will cover you for the pre-existing condition, as they will cover orienteering competition?
I've used them before for top-up insurance; trouble is, I won't know whether they'll cover my pre-existing condition until after forthcoming diagnosis, since you can't do a "what if" screening on the website (which is the same for many other companies).
- roadrunner
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
It sounds like you need to bite the bullet and phone up to ask what the options might be. I found them very helpful when I spoke to them.
- xxx
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
xxx wrote:It sounds like you need to bite the bullet and phone up to ask what the options might be. I found them very helpful when I spoke to them.
Yes, I think I'll be spending some time on the phone before long
- roadrunner
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
Previous BOF insurer - Richard Weston (he's retired though occasionally in the office) but Tracy Harvey now runs it.
E-mail address is: info@richardweston.co.uk
Very helpful and provide travel insurance that definitely covers competitive orienteering.
E-mail address is: info@richardweston.co.uk
Very helpful and provide travel insurance that definitely covers competitive orienteering.
- Big Jon
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Re: Travel Insurance for Orienteering
To reassure Big Jon, Richard is very much alive, well and working full time.
He writes that some very interesting questions have been raised and comments made and says his company can offer a choice of travel policies. One, the standard policy, covers orienteering as an occasional activity within an otherwise normal holiday. He offers a different specialist policy for trips by amateur orienteers for the primary purpose of taking part in an orienteering event.
He can be contacted through info@richardweston.co.uk. Orienteers with a medical or physical disability can also be provided for, subject to approval of and the application of special terms for the particular condition.
He writes that some very interesting questions have been raised and comments made and says his company can offer a choice of travel policies. One, the standard policy, covers orienteering as an occasional activity within an otherwise normal holiday. He offers a different specialist policy for trips by amateur orienteers for the primary purpose of taking part in an orienteering event.
He can be contacted through info@richardweston.co.uk. Orienteers with a medical or physical disability can also be provided for, subject to approval of and the application of special terms for the particular condition.
- DJM
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