Insurance has been around for 4000 years. Some scholars of the history of insurance – there are some and, indeed, you might be one – think it’s more like 2500 years but either way, neither of those figures are typos. That makes insurance salesman the second oldest profession in the world.
Interesting then that there are still holes in what can be covered. You can insure your business, your income, your health, your life, your pet. Apparently the Australian tennis great, John Newcombe, had his moustache insured. Maybe Warney had his right wrist insured, not sure. Yet it is only recent history that cyclists could insure their bicycles independently of their home contents insurance, something of great import given that bicycles are at their best when away from the home. It is even more recent history that cyclists could be insured whilst on a riding holiday.
Is it covered if it isn’t in this room?
There are not many companies insuring bicycles and some are better than others. There are even fewer who offer personal travel insurance that covers you while riding a bicycle and to this correspondent’s knowledge there is only one that offers travel insurance while racing a bicycle. Given most readers of marathonmtb.com are racing cyclists and we are well and truly into the time of year where cyclists from the southern hemisphere venture north, we thought it would be prudent to pass on some news on the cycling specific travel insurance front.
Travel insurance is, generally, personal insurance. A select few insurers will let you extend the cover of your bicycle so that it is insured on an overseas holiday but, generally speaking, personal travel insurance would end as soon as you threw a leg over a rental in Amsterdam, toed the line at a ‘cross race in Belgium or raced the Downieville classic in the Sierras. Hit the ground in an overly damaging fashion and you’re on your own. More or less, travel policies cover – to varying degrees – things like cancellation of travel plans, emergency medical assistance, disability, personal liability, loss of luggage and personal effects etc. If you’re riding a bike though, most of these things are not covered. Certainly so if you are racing.
An Australian company, Velosure – who many MarathonMTB.com readers might have their bicycles insured with – recently started to offer a personal travel insurance product that not only covers you while riding a bicycle overseas but racing a bicycle as well. We’d be happy to get feedback from readers about other outfits doing this but our research indicates there are none. It’s a good feeling to read the features of a policy and know that the very reason you are travelling for – riding – doesn’t render them all null and void.
Whatever insurance you get, read the Product Description Statement (PDS). There’s a reason it is law that insurance companies have to provide you with one at the time of sale. There’s important stuff in there.