Travel Insurance / Medical Insurance – Overview

[Bjorn]

Hi,

I've done a bit of research on insurances today, which I thought I'd share with you. Comments / feedback / add-ons from anyone would be much appreciated!
(Grant –*Maybe we could make a "sticky", as it seems an ongoing & important question for a lot of people).


Anyway – my findings after 4h of research on the web:

World Nomads: will cover for motorcycling, BUT it depends on where you're from. UK residents are certainly not covered, because the underwriter there is different. (Funnily enough, German residents are covered – although the German contract is actually underwritten by BUPA UK... very weird)
World Nomads' medical expenses are limited to $300000. Personally, I find this pathetic. Even the most standard travel insurance will cover at least 1 million, if not 5, 10 or 15 million. 250000 is nothing after a bad enough accident in an expensive country.
At the same time, World Nomads is one of the most expensive insurances out there! Around 900 Euros for a year – 3x the price of other insurances. The only good thing about them is you can take out insurance whilst you're already travelling.

Virgin Travel Insurance: Covers motorcycling, but only if it's part of an organised tour by a recognized tour operator.

Essential Travel: Covers big bikes if you hold a valid license/helmet/..., but only if you upgrade the policy to "Grade 3" hazardous activities. Medical Excess is increased to £650, Personal Accident Sum is reduced to 50%.

Harrison Beaumont "Explorer": Covers big bikes if you hold a valid license/helmet/...

JSInsurance "AXA Long Stay" & "AXA Young Traveller": Covers big bikes if you hold a valid license/helmet/...

Staysure: This one specializes on more senior people (up to 75 years old I believe). Motorcycles are covered if the rider holds a valid license. No mention of any cc restrictions.

NavigatorTravel: The 'Navigator' website explicitly says they cover big bikes. The "Activities" section of their policy wording mentions "Motor cycling" without any restriction on engine size.



Couple of questions:

Taking out insurance after leaving home: Is it possible to have an insurarer/broker agree on issuing a new insurance certificate, say, if one paid a "being outside the home country" premium?
Would one need to get a written agreement with the broker or the actual underwriter?

Any professional lawyers here? How do you interpret this: "The insurance commences when leave your home to commence the trip and terminates 24 hours after the time you first leave the immigration control of your final destination country." (from 1stopTravel Insurance):
Does this mean the insurance won't pay if one had left home already at the time I took out the insurance?
"final destination country" meaning: there's insurance coverage for multiple countries, right?

Has anyone here on the HUBB had any real issues with any insurances after an accident (covering hospital costs, etc)?

Has anyone tried cutting the insurance premium by removing certain paragraphs from the insurance (i.e. luggage / baggage /... things that most insurances won't cover for motorcycles anyway)?

Cheers
Bjorn