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Adventure or Extreme Sports Insurance

Adventure or Extreme Sports Insurance

So we all love to push the limits sometimes but taking risks doesn’t have to be so, well, risky. The what if and the unknown can be minimised. An adequate insurance policy will cover you for the worst case scenario should it arise but the problem is, what is an adequate insurance policy cover? Here is our guide to Extreme Sports Insurance.

What exactly is insurance or an insurance policy? In its simple terms an insurance policy is a form of bet. Protection from financial loss and assurance that, should one incur, certain costs such as medical costs will be paid for by the insurer. It’s a form of financial protection, hedged against an unknown, but predictable loss.

If you are an adventurous person and enjoy participating in extreme or adventurous sports then finding the right kind of insurance protection is vitally important.

extreme sports insurance

What is an Extreme or Adventure Sport?

We all have a general idea what an adventurous sport or extreme sport is but when it comes to legal or the insurance industry a measurable and definable definition is paramount. For this reason each insurer has their own consideration of what they deem and extreme or adventurous sport. Many insurers like to refer to this type of insurance as single event insurance or simply event insurance.

We would agree that there are some elements that are common traits in how we would define an extreme or adventurous sport. One definition would be that the sport or activity in question creates an adrenaline rush of excitement due to the high risk factor for injury or worse, should things go wrong or the participant has an accident.

During the research for this piece the comparison site Compare the Market provides some interesting examples of what is considered and extreme sport. For example, and they would agree, when we think of extreme sports we think of sky diving, rock climbing, downhill mountain biking. It may surprise you that most sports insurers will consider things like horse riding, ice skating, water sports involving being towed on an inflatable and, surprisingly, swimming with dolphins.

Most insurers with have a definitive list of what they cover and what they do not cover. Normally they have sub categories of insurance groups that may or may not include your chosen activity. Many insurers categorise the insurance into groups such as:

  • Winter Sports
  • Water Sports
  • Motor Sports

What to do if you are unsure as to what group your activity will fall under or cannot see it on a list? The best advice is to ask a potential insurer directly if they cover your chosen sport.

Extreme sports insuranceHoliday Insurance Versus Extreme Sports Insurance

Many of us only ever consider insurance when we are off on holidays. Of course this is a very important time to have insurance. However, there are specialist insurers out there that will cover you for accident insurance or specific sports insurance.

The difference being that holiday insurance may cover things like repatriation costs, lost luggage, cancelled flights and many more holiday specific risks. Specific sports or accident cover may not include these things but may, in fact, offer better cover for your sports equipment or special policy terms like loss of earnings.

The fact of the matter is that each insurer has their own policy terms and own policy wording. It is paramount that you check with the insurers that they cover the specific ‘event’ or ‘loss’ you are seeking.

What if I have pre-exiting conditions or prior injuries?

How an underwriter calculates insurance is a dark art, unfortunately, I am not privy too. However, it is safe to say that the premium is accurately and mathematically calculated on the basis of the information provided and not on the whimsical views of the individual underwriter. It is therefore foreseeable that people may try to hide information or omit certain details about themselves in an effort to reduce the premium.

It is advisable to be as open an honest with your insurance broker. Hiding things from an insurer for the sake of saving a small percentage on the premium will come back to bite you square in the ass. That’s our professional, legal advice. The introduction of the Insurance Act in the UK in 2016 made it very difficult for insurers to null and void a contract based on the insured (policy holder) providing inaccurate or false information. Having said that, dishonesty will never help any claim being assessed and you may find that due to providing incorrect information may reduce any pay outs you may be entitled to. In some scenarios you may be requested to provide further consideration of the premium in order to provide cover you seek. The former method of reducing the claim proportionally is the preferred way insurers operate.

Potential Insurers:

Please note that we have no affiliation to any of the insurance providers below and we accept no liabilities whatsoever in regards to the information provided in this article. Many are both travel and event insurers.

True Traveler Insurance

Battleface

Big Cat Travel Insurance

Insure and Go

Sports Cover Direct

Dogtag

Outback Insurance

Adventure Travel Insurance from AXA

Some important policy points you may wish to consider and discuss with your insurer:

  • Firstly, does it cover your specific sporting discipline?
  • Level of medical expenses covered?
  • If the policy also covers travel and for how long?
  • Repatriation costs if the policy covers travel also?
  • Loss of Earnings cover?
  • Equipment cover from damage or theft.
  • Third Party cover (very important)

We hope the above was helpful. Sign up for our Newsletter for more great articles. Check back for sport specific insurance advice coming soon. Paragliding Insurance overview and analysis of association provided insurance policies on route!

This Article was written by Nicholas Craven. Nicholas holds an LLB & LLM in International Law, Specialising in Maritime Insurance. He also is the owner and operator of a number of adventure sports companies, most notably his Paragliding company, Paragliding Guide Limited and Big Adventure Map.
* Please note, the information provided in this article is not legal advice or professional advice of any other kind, and should not be considered to be such, or relied or acted upon in that regard. If you need legal or other professional advice, you should consult a suitably qualified person.*

 

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