Travel (medical) insurance

Yealm

Yealm

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I tried getting personal insurance cover today for a 2 month sabbatical sailing trip to france (to cover medical emergencies - ie not for the boat). The conversation with the broker got a big bogged down in whether I was qualified to handle the boat (I have quite a lot of experience but no paper qualifications) and I gave up...

Was wondering if anyone could recommend a good company for travel/emergency medical insurance for sailors ?
 
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Yealm said:
I tried getting personal insurance cover today for a 2 month sabbatical sailing trip to france (to cover medical emergencies - ie not for the boat). The conversation with the broker got a big bogged down in whether I was qualified to handle the boat (I have quite a lot of experience but no paper qualifications) and I gave up...

Was wondering if anyone could recommend a good company for travel/emergency medical insurance for sailors ?
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Try Topsail. We have recommended them to our sailing School customers over the years and not one complaint!
 
Topsail, Bishop Skinner and Pantaenius all do insurance for sailing.

However, if you are sailing around France it is rather unnecessary if you are an EU resident as your EHIC is perfectly adequate.
 
Hi not sure if you want Personal Insurance or Medical / Health Insurance not sure either why the Boat is relevant ?

For Medical / Health Insurance try the best start with an On-line application with All Clear which should give you about 8 quotes from suitable Insurance Company's.

Might add that the EU EHIC medical card does not cover all eventualities, for info see the Govt advice on this matter
 
Capt Popeye said:
Might add that the EU EHIC medical card does not cover all eventualities, for info see the Govt advice on this matter
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There is little that is not covered - OP is looking for emergencies only. The French health service is at least as good as the NHS and many say better!
 
Capt Popeye said:
Hi not sure if you want Personal Insurance or Medical / Health Insurance not sure either why the Boat is relevant ?
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Surely that's because it comes under the heading of "dangerous sports"! Years ago I spotted that at renewal my travel insurers had inserted a caveat that any sailing had to be "incidental" whereas in my case of course it was crucial (no accommodation other than the boat, for instance). Fortunately they removed the caveat without charge, but my assumption that renewals have the same rules as original deal was unjustified!

Mike.
 
You don't need insurance at the moment the EH1C will cover you, you might end up having to claim something on your return to the UK but you certainly don't need travel insurance for France unless you are paranoid.
 
We have used EHIC + repatriation insurance from Bishop Skinner (Bluefin) for last 6 years. There isn't too much choice as many companies have problems with more than 6 months duration and sailing offshore.

Bishop Skinner were pretty expensive this year but suggested we might get a better quote via their website. I had problems with that (some self-inflicted) so looked around again. I found Mariner's Travel (Pantaenius) and got a much cheaper quote with more cover.

I did have a few initial slight problems.
1) I had problems opening https://www.marinerstravel.com but I think that is a different company
2) I also had problems with https://www.marinerstravel.co.uk/ site. They were doing maintenance work
3) Phone call confirmed they were making changes and that this policy was not available at that time

However, I was told to check in 2-3 days, found their system working and got an immediate quote. You might get away without medical screening but I had to call their number. They were very busy but did call back and confirmed my conditions would not increase the charge.

I'd suggest trying https://www.marinerstravel.co.uk if you think more than EHIC is needed (e.g. Medical ambulance flight back to UK etc.)
 
Mistroma said:
You might get away without medical screening but I had to call their number. They were very busy but did call back and confirmed my conditions would not increase the charge.
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Worth bearing in mind that most insurers EXCLUDE conditions declared through screening, under the "pre-existing conditions" clause. That's certainly the case for us, with our bank-provided travel insurance. Might not matter - a condition you declare is likely to be something you know how to handle, but if it's something that could give rise to a sudden deterioration, you need other plans in place for that contingency.
 
Mistroma said:
We have used EHIC + repatriation insurance from Bishop Skinner (Bluefin) for last 6 years. There isn't too much choice as many companies have problems with more than 6 months duration and sailing offshore.

Bishop Skinner were pretty expensive this year but suggested we might get a better quote via their website. I had problems with that (some self-inflicted) so looked around again. I found Mariner's Travel (Pantaenius) and )
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The fact is that some of the quoted firms are ridiculously expensive. Last year B & S wanted £500 for an annual multi trip to France, Holland & Belgium. Pants were, quite honestly - Pants !!
I asked them not to include all the associated rubbish like delayed flights, luggage etc which are pointless as I am on a boat. I just want medical & injury ashore cover & repatriation if unwell. Seems they do not do just that, one is expected to have all the add on carp.
 
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My annual fee with Topsail is £159.

Up to 60 days at a time. Not US Canada, Arctic or Antarctic!

Accident, illness, etc. Chekkit out.....

:encouragement:
 
capnsensible said:
My annual fee with Topsail is £159.

Up to 60 days at a time. Not US Canada, Arctic or Antarctic!

Accident, illness, etc. Chekkit out.....

:encouragement:
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I'd be a bit surprised if anyone offers cover for Antarctica - there's no infrastructure for medical care (or SAR) beyond what people (or organizations) provide for themselves. No doubt if you fell ill within reach of a scientific station, the doctors there would provide humanitarian aid, but one reason that the "official" Antarctic operators discourage private expeditions is because they might (for humanitarian reasons) have to provide SAR that would take resources away from their intended purpose - often at the cost of losing programmes costing millions. Antarctic operations are VERY tightly planned. The usual greeting at an Antarctic base is that they will provide no support for you - and then (usually!) welcome you.

The Arctic is more variable - there are comparatively civilized bits of the Arctic, where there is a health service and SAR, but of course a lot of it is like Antarctica from the point of view of healthcare and SAR. Personally, if I were an insurer I'd make a statement along the lines of no support if more than X kilometres from a town (with a list of suppported towns in an appendix). But that's probably too complicated!
 
A friend of mine led a sailing exped to the South Sandwich Islands. Now there's remote!

For me, though, that wont be an issue. Im covered for my next adventure next week, Transat west to east. Might need socks, though.... :cool:
 
AntarcticPilot said:
Worth bearing in mind that most insurers EXCLUDE conditions declared through screening, under the "pre-existing conditions" clause. That's certainly the case for us, with our bank-provided travel insurance. Might not matter - a condition you declare is likely to be something you know how to handle, but if it's something that could give rise to a sudden deterioration, you need other plans in place for that contingency.
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Good point and I think that was the case with Bishop Skinner. As far as I remember Mariner's didn't have a problem with that as long as you paid any additional premium after medical screening. I'm not 100% as our medical conditions didn't warrant any increase and aren't likely to be an issue anyway wrt an insurance claim.
 
Daydream believer said:
The fact is that some of the quoted firms are ridiculously expensive. Last year B & S wanted £500 for an annual multi trip to France, Holland & Belgium. Pants were, quite honestly - Pants !!
I asked them not to include all the associated rubbish like delayed flights, luggage etc which are pointless as I am on a boat. I just want medical & injury ashore cover & repatriation if unwell. Seems they do not do just that, one is expected to have all the add on carp.
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We found that was certainly true. However, I read all small print and initially went back to run through all the stuff I didn't need as it was either irrelevant on a boat or already covered by other insurance. Basically just buying repatriation cover and that wasn't too bad. The price crept up and then jumped this year so I moved to Mariner's. Their policy does have some items I don't really need but could be useful and much cheaper than Bishop Skinner.
 
If you are struggling to find a company that will insure overseas travel try https://www.hccmis.com/

They are one of the VERY few that will even consider cover for a UK citizen who is full time liveaboard from the Eastern Carib who wants to go skiing in the USA at age 70+.

Not cheap and the cover dropped when I hit 70 but I want insurance when I go skiing in the USA.

NB I did a big search on this some years back and you MUST read the small print before committing. I was on the point of purchase on more than on occasion only to find that the trip length was a max of 42 days or you HAD to leave from the UK [ why?] or repatriation was not covered or only emergency care for three days and no long term care.
 
When we looked at this a while ago we found that most medical insurance for E.U. countries stipulated that you had to had to make use of EHIC cover first. We decided it wasn't worth it, you were in effect paying for repatriation, but if we took ill abroad then we would be in no rush to get back to the UK so could have our treatment there, or worse comes to the worst pay for ourselves, in effect self insuring.
 
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