Life insurance
 

Totally dull subject for such a good website but a necessity all the same.

Are there any insurance companies we know of that will give life and personal injury cover to overland motorcyclists.

Goose.

I cannot recommend any but will advice to stay away from "Worldwide Travel Insurance Ltd" (UK)
I paid extortionate premiums to be covered for any conceivable hazardous activity - repatriation costs of upto £1,000,000 if necessary.

I had an accident on a quad in Sinai, Egypt ( after there riding overland from London !) and broke my collarbone and had a nasty haematoma running the length of my lower leg. I could hardly walk and my right arm was useless.
After numerous International calls and faxes from a private Egyptian doctor certifying the extent of my injuries, the bizarre verdict from the doctor in charge at Worldwide Insurance, was that my injuries were not serious enough to warrant repatriation.

Numerous appeals later, I was granted a flight ticket for a single commercial ticket for a value not exceeding £300. I turned that down.
On my return, I have tried to get payment for the hospital fees and the flight ticket I had to shell out for with my own money. This is not possible as the "arrangements were not confirmed by a worldwide insurance member of staff before the costs were incurred!!!"

Morale of the story, check your insurance and go over every detail in the fine print. I shopped around extensivley knowing the importance of travel insurance. The scum will use any method available to avoid large payment. I know I am generalising and that they may well be a moral Insurance company out there who will actually honour their policies. Opps, there goes a flying pig

btw, the policy was underwritten by LLoyds of london.

[This message has been edited by Ceasar (edited 27 July 2001).]

That's a cautionary tale. Two comments:

1. It is normal practice for these insurance companies to NOT cover any expenses that you haven't notified them about in advance and gotten their approval to proceed.

2. If you hadn't been trying to RIDE, i.e. if you were just a "normal" traveller by plane and bus, etc., do you think your injuries would have required repatriation? Did you get stung because you were a motorcyclist in this situation?

Here's the link to some sites to check out. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tri...dicalInsurance

BUT, Ceasar offers good advice to all travellers to be very careful reading the 'fine print' on these medical insurance policies. Some of them are designed for backpackers, and will specifically exclude motorcycling as a dangerous activity, or only offer coverage up to 125cc. So you could find yourself in deep trouble if you had a bike accident and tried to claim medical expenses.

Would be interested to know if any travellers have had good or bad experiences claiming on their travel insurance policies. Let's hear from you!

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Good luck and safe travels!

Susan Johnson
Share the Dream!
at: www.HorizonsUnlimited.com


[This message has been edited by Susan (edited 11 February 2002).]