Has anyone used the 'BCA' expedition insurance recently? I've just rung Towergate who are the contact on the BCA site, and they had no idea of the existance of an expedition policy. The nice lady there is looking into it for me, but they certainly seem to have no policy in place as such. Does anyone have a contact name there they have dealt with, or feedback on Towergate or the 'BCA' scheme?
Cheers.

I can't answer your question but have you tried emailing Dave Judson the Legal and Insurance Officer:  legal [at] british-caving . org . uk

The official contact name at Towergate is Richard Gibb on 0870 3669552 travel-insurance [at] british-caving . org . uk.

I'd be interested in finding out if you get anywhere with this one (as would Dave Judson)

Cheers.

Thanks, I'll try again tomorrow. It's probably just that it's a big organisation and I need to speak to the right person. The BCA website only seems to point you at the Towergate front page; perhaps the above info could be put on the BCA page? The Towergate website doesn't list caving expedition cover in it's lists of policy types, which makes it difficult to select the right contact. I'll give an update if I get a result tomorrow.
Cheers all.

http://www.british-caving.org.uk/?page=3 is reasonably explicit about which Towergate office to call and who to speak to. Did you miss this info, or have you tried it and found it no longer works?

Please let us know how you get on - unfortunately, we usually only get to hear about it when there are problems.

Nick.

Ah, thanks Nick. I was looking at the info on the BCRA page, which gives the Towergate info, but no names or numbers. The BCA site does indeed give much better info. For anyone finding the info via the BCRA site, it might be useful to add a link to direct them to the relevent BCA page which gives full info?
Cheers,
Dave

I've just spoken to Richard at Towergate, who was very helpful.
The cost quoted for a two week trip to Canada amounted to ?166 which seems a bit steep. Activcard charge nearer to ?50 for similar cover (although not for 'exploratory caving' which is a requirement for this trip).
Anyone got any ideas, because ?166 seems a ridiculous amount of money for the amount of cover provided.

Not sure if Canada is still applicable, but for our Crete expedition most people have joined the Austrian Alpine Club.

?27 each for us and it comes with "AWS Annual Alpine Association Worldwide Rescue and Repatriation Insurance". Details here.

Snowcard will insure expeditions.

You can't do it on-line, you need to phone them. Give them a call, explain what you are up to and they'll give you a quote.

Found towergate pretty good in getting cover for Matienzo. Had tell a helpful woman called Tracey that there was a specific policy with BCA, she then investigated, found it and sold it to me. It specifically stated that it would cover original exploration on the policy document, and I understand from BCA that it also covers rescue not using a designated organisation (ie getting rescued by your mates, or rescuing them). Bit pricey, but no issues over whether you're covered or not.

This whole exped insurance thing has been a bit of a bugbear for years.  I used to use the Austrian Alpine Club insurance which is adequate but basic.  Now I use ADAC, the German equivalent of the AA as they were the only people I could find who'd insure me for individual trips that were longer than a couple of months or whatever the norm is.  It's also an added bonus that they do what is apparently a top-notch breakdown/travel cover policy for a fraction of the price of the International AA or RAC cover.  Never had to use either the breakdown or medical cover but from what I've heard it's a very good service.  Only problem is that only small sections of the site are in English & my German sucks.  Got a friend in my Austrian caving club who works for them & he sorts it out for me.  A brief outline of their basic options is included below. 

My feelings on the matter are that we get robbed blind by insurance companies in the UK across the board & if I can possibly find an alternative then I will.  It costs me E16/year to be a member of the club in Austria.  That gets me free accommodation, free carbide & use of all kit (as much rope & hardware as we need for exploration), & annual insurance through the Austrian federation.  The only condition is that I wear slippers when I'm in the hut! So when I hear that people demand hundreds of pounds for a couple of weeks cover it makes me sick.  National pride goes out the window & I'd rather support someone else's economy!   

"Hi Joel,
thanks for your Email. Yes, it's a pity that the website does not offer informations in english. I advise the ADAC-Plus-membership, that includes repatriation to england. It costs EUR 79,50 per year, or EUR 68,30 for young persons under 27 years who are still in school or students. Additional I advise the health insurance for all the medical costs, that costs EUR 11,70 per year for one person or EUR 17,-- per year for couples. Of course I can arrange the payment."

Their site is www.adac.de or an English section at http://www.adac.de/mitgliedschaft_leistungen/mitgliedschaftstarife/membership/default.asp

Hope this helps.

Need to check what the FFS cover is in this regard.

Can I just point out that the 'BCA travel cover' is not necessarily intended to be the cheapest and for some people may not be the best deal in other ways, but so far as we are aware it is the only policy which covers the cost of self-rescue from areas of the world where there is no local rescue team. Obviously, this is important to some people and not to others, and to the people for whom it is not important (mainly European expeditions) there are alternatives. However, we (BCA) took the view that it was important to ensure that there was at least one policy available which had this feature, and that's why we approached Towergate and made sure this feature was available.

Nick.

Canada?  That rings a bell    Where are you headed? 

FYI none of us here are specially insured for caving, and in fact I've never been able to get caving insurance in all the years I've caved abroad from Canada.  I just watch my feet at pitch-heads and such.

Hi Ian.
Vancouver Island, Gold River area, working with VICEG.
Apparently, cave rescue over there sounds just like here in the UK (ie voluntary and no charge), so we're going to get Snowcard cover which gives us rescue, health, repatriation and luggage/equipment cover for around ?50. Afraid ?166 is getting a bit daft for 2 weeks; been on holidays that cost less than that!
I'll try and get a price from Snowcard for the exploratory cover mentioned in a previous post, and put it on here as a comparison.
Regards,
Dave

Snowcard have recently updated their website; it now allows you to click a few buttons and get an online quote.

Visit: http://www.snowcard.co.uk/pages/index.asp

Yep, rang them up and they told me what to do. Have filled the form in and they promise to quote within 24 hours. Will give update when I have info.

Have now received quote back from Snowcard; ?57.50 for rescue, health, repatriation cover only. ?70 to also include personal effects, luggage gear etc, ?82 to include all the above plus cancellation insurance. All prices get an additional 10% discount if booked online.

This is for 16 days exploratory caving in Canada.

The quote represents around a 10% increase on the standard (ie non exploratory) cover for caving which is a 'level 3' activity on their scale, as is cave diving (!) The scale goes to level 5, and level 6 for himalayan expeditions etc, so guess they consider caving to be fairly safe, which makes a refreshing change.

DaveR said:

Vancouver Island, Gold River area, working with VICEG.

Click to expand...

Is that the Sebalhall limestone, or are you going to the White Ridge?

Have taken out Snowcard/Activcard insurance on a couple of occasions and it is worth contacting them by phone. I believe level 3 is fine for tourist caving but exploratory trips require level 6. I got an annual policy for me and girlfriend for ~?340 just over a year ago.

I think we cavers in general just need to be a bit cautious about getting exped cover. The small print with snowcard cover was confusing enough, let alone trying to translate it from German or French.

If things went tits up for you its your other exped members who have to sort out the mess. It is getting a bit steep though, its going to end up you paying more to insure yourself than it cost to actually go on a trip. I know its not in BCA's interest but if they could look in to companies that provide adequate cover and the types of expeds they are suitable for. It would make us all that bit reassured or not