insurence on tour, £102!

ThatGuyOnABike

I'm going to Europe for ten days and had a look at ctc's travel insurance. £102 was the quote they gave me. my bike (now after i owned it for long time) is worth less then that! i was expecting £15-30! i payed £20 for the ferry (very good deal to dunkerque).
erm... this is my first time touring so hey, what do i know, but still what should i do about insurance. i have an e11 card that covers me healthwise -i think but i was interested in doing something so i could have some peace of mind should my gear get stolen.
any advice???

bob1965

Try what I did I changed my house insurance to one that coved our bikes in EU, so ctc was £85 a year and new house insurance was £120 both with bike cover.. Bob

dave7348

Depends if you are talking about insuring the bike against theft and/or damage (I don't bother, just don't leave it unlocked - 40 +yrs and I've only had one bike pinched - add up the cost of all those premiums and compare the difference) or illness/accident insurance.
The later is vital. An E111 will go some way to help, but will still leave you very short should you need serious help (many £000's !).

Shop around for health insurance, but make sure they don't exclude cycling (some class it as hazardous!)

Have a great tour.

lloyd_bower

dave7348 wrote:

Depends if you are talking about insuring the bike against theft and/or damage (I don't bother, just don't leave it unlocked - 40 +yrs and I've only had one bike pinched - add up the cost of all those premiums and compare the difference) or illness/accident insurance.
The later is vital. An E111 will go some way to help, but will still leave you very short should you need serious help (many £000's !).

Shop around for health insurance, but make sure they don't exclude cycling (some class it as hazardous!)

Have a great tour.

Defo agree re: health/accident insurance on holiday, pretty much essential in some places where you could become bankrupt if you had a nasty accident.

pneumatic

annual travel insurance is often a better deal than single trip. I have the whole family insured for about 150 quid a year, including ten days of winter sports. Can't remember what it says about bikes, but mine are covered abroad by my house policy anyway.

ronstrutt

lloyd bower wrote:

Defo agree re: health/accident insurance on holiday, pretty much essential in some places where you could become bankrupt if you had a nasty accident.

Or might not get treated at all in some countries.

It really is worth shopping around for travel insurance. You can also get so-called 'free' travel insurance bundled in with other insurance policies/bank accounts, etc. The only plus with the CTC policy is that it covers bikes, including repatriation if damaged in an accident, etc. However, to be able to claim for theft of the bike it has to have been locked to an immovable object by an approved lock (oh yes, you're really going to carry the weight of one of them on a tour!), any accessories must be removed or locked or securely attached to the bike when it's left unattended, and a bike worth over £1000 must have an electronic tag. The pay-out is based on the current value of the bike, not its replacement cost, so this insurance is hardly worth it for older bikes.

I never bother locking my bike up when I'm on tour. I reckon there are very few people who could move my loaded bike at more than 5mph, let alone pick it up!

jibi

The last quote I got was 5,800 pounds for a year

so your's sounds good to me.

But them I am 59, tour non stop across deserts etc, can't think why mine is so high LOL

george

ThatGuyOnABike

cheers, i think i have the house insurence that covers bikes abroad and healthwise i'm not that bothered and believe that e11 card will do. also i'm travelling in smal group so what is the worst that can happen???

andymiller

Shop around - you could definitely get good insurance for a lot less than that. If your bike really is worth very little than most normal holiday insurance policies should cover it (generally the limit for sports equipment is £300).

ronstrutt

ThatGuyOnABike wrote:

cheers, i think i have the house insurence that covers bikes abroad and healthwise i'm not that bothered and believe that e11 card will do. also i'm travelling in smal group so what is the worst that can happen???

You could fall and break an arm - as my wife did walking across a restaurant in Corfu. The bill, including ambulance and treatment came to around £400, none of it covered by the E111. Her arm was so badly damaged that they even considered whether a private flight home would be needed - cost £????.