All persons to be insured must reside at a permanent address within the EEC ( Excluding Switzerland, Russia, Belarus, Montenegro and the Ukraine) to be eligible for cover.
Can I take out this insurance if I am already travelling?
When cover is purchased after an Insured Person has departed their home to commence their journey, there is a fixed period of 48 hours prior to cover commencing. Any illness arising during this initial 48 hour period will be an excluded Pre-existing Medical Condition. In the event of serious injury in connection with an accident, you will be covered from the date you take out cover subject to the accident being independently witnessed and also verified by a Medical Practitioner.
IMPORTANT
There is no 14 Day Cooling off Period and no premium refund will be made if the insured Person has already travelled.
family
family family
Definition of a couple
A couple is defined as 2 adults who have been permanently living together at the same address for more than six months, who intend to travel together.
If you do not qualify as a couple, please select individual(s)
Annual Multi-Trip Durations
Annual Multi Trip policies are designed for multiple short holidays leaving from and returning to your home country.
Annual Multi Trip trip limits:
Standard policy - 30 days
Premier policy - 70 days
If you need continuous cover for a year (home visits allowed on policies over 4 months long) select Single Trip or One Way. You can travel around as much as you like, to as many different countries as you like, with a Single Trip or One Way policy.
One Way Trip
Please note a Single Trip policy can cover travels with no return ticket booked, a One Way policy is intended for:
Emigrating to new country where you intend to permanently live
Or
Returning to your home country permanently
All cover ceases upon arrival at final destination
Trip Type
Select the type of policy most suitable for your needs.
Single Trip: A flexible policy with no limits on how many countries you visit or how long you’re away for. Suitable for all types of travel whether it be short term/long stay or backpacking. No return ticket required and unlimited home visitsoffered on policies over 4 months long.
One Way Trip: Means you are Emigrating to a new country where you intend to live permanently or, returning to your home country permanently. Cover will end upon arrival at your final destination. Please note: There is no cover for emergency return travel expenses if you do not have an original return ticket.
Annual Multi-Trip: This policy covers an unlimited number of trips throughout the 12 month Period of Insurance. Each trip has a maximum stay validity depending on the type of policy chosen. For example, for Standard Policies, the maximum duration of any trip shall not exceed 30 days and for Premier policies, the maximum duration of any trip must not exceed 70 days.
If you are already travelling it is not possible to purchase the annual multi-trip policy.
Geographical Areas
Europe: Europe means the continent of Europe West of the Ural Mountains, and includes the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Iceland, Jordan, Madeira, the Canary Islands, the Azores and Mediterranean Islands as well as all countries bordering the Mediterranean.
Australia & New Zealand: a) For any period of cover purchased, a 48 hour stop-over anywhere in the World for both outward and return travel will be included. b) If the period of cover purchased is two months or more, a stop-over of 7 days/nights anywhere in the World will be included.
Worldwide excluding North America & Mexico: (North America means the USA, Canada & Mexico.) a) For any period of cover purchased, a 48 hour stop-over anywhere in the World for both outward and return travel will be included. b) If the period of cover purchased is two months or more, a stop-over of 7 days/nights anywhere in the World will be included.
Worldwide including North America & Mexico: Worldwide means anywhere in the World including the USA, Canada & Mexico.
To
Automatic Trip Extension If the Insured Person is prevented from completing their travel before the expiration of this Insurance as stated under the Period of Insurance on the Booking Invoice or Validation Certificate (as applicable) for reasons which are beyond their control, including ill health or failure of public transport, this Insurance will remain in force until completion but not exceeding a further 31 days on a day by day basis, without additional premium. In the event of an Insured Person being hijacked, cover shall continue whilst the Insured Person is subject to the control of the person(s) or their associates making the hijack during the Period of Insurance of a period not exceeding twelve months from the date of the hijack.
Please ensure you arrange cover for the entire duration of your travel
Where you normally reside
Where do you normally reside? Where do you normally reside? Please use the drop down box to choose your country of residence. Note we can only insure residents of the UK & EEA Countries. Can I take out this Insurance if I’m already abroad? If you are normally a resident of the UK or EEA Countries and your insurance has run out, you may take out cover online with us. This is on the understanding that nothing has occurred at the time of taking out the cover which has led to a claim or may lead to a potential claim. Note you cannot take out our Multi-Trip Insurance if you are already abroad. Do you have minimum residency requirements? No. If you are, for example, a British Passport holder and have right of abode in the UK, we are not concerned as to how many months in the past year you have been in the UK provided at the time of arranging this insurance you have a UK residential address.
Age Restriction Error
We are unable to quote, Please ring our Offices on 0333 0033 161 for further assistance.
Standard Pack (Included)
Included in all the Policies, The Standard Pack covers for Activities such as Hot Air Ballooning, Sailing, snorkelling, scuba diving up to 18metres, water skiing as well as walking , hiking or trekking up to 2,500 metres. This is serious mountain altitude as our highest peak, Ben Nevis, is just 1,344 metres up. For a full list of all sports & activities covered click here.
Activity Pack
But if you want to get a bit more active, then our Activity Pack covers activities such as offshore sailing, scuba diving to 40 metres in depth, jet skiing, biking, bungee jumping, cycle touring, horse riding, , tandem sky diving, via ferrata as well as white water rafting and trekking/hiking up to 4600 metres. Here is a full list of sports & activities covered.
Extreme Activity Pack
Our Extreme Activity Pack covers activities such as hang gliding, kite surfing, paragliding, multi pitch rock climbing, as well as trekking above 4,600 metres, with no upper altitude limit and is suited to the most challenging of mountain treks such as Mt Kilimanjaro & Everest Base Camp. For a full list of sports and activities covered click here.
Medical & Repatriation
Medical Cover is the most important part of your travel insurance. Our Premier policy covers up to £10m for hospitalisation, medical and repatriation expenses, up to £5m for our standard and up to £2m for our budget policies.
Get Cover If Already Travelling
You don't need to be in your Home Country to get cover, you can buy a policy from anywhere in the world, as long as you're residential status is still in the UK or EU. Just follow the Quote form to get a price and complete your purchase.
Working while abroad
Non manual / clerical work is covered for free, if you'll be volunteering, WWOOFing or partaking in any sort of manual labour - our Activity Adventure Travel Insurance Pack can cover you.
Cancellation & Baggage Cover
24 hour Emergency Helpline
Up to £10m Medical Cover
Claim while you're Travelling
Bouldering Travel Insurance
While you can enjoy the thrills of bouldering in your local rock climbing gym, nothing beats actually getting out to enjoy climbing on some real rock.
No heights and no ropes involved, Bouldering is considered a bit safer than roped climbing, but a comprehensive travel insurance policy is still a necessity, even the most experienced of climbers can pick a bad hold and take an unexpected fall.
A Big Cat policy provides comprehensive medical cover including repatriation, evacuation from a remote location if necessary, as well as medical costs to treat injuries sustained.
With a limit of up to £10m which includes helicopter rescue and repatriation you can rest assured you have the cover you need to enjoy the thrills of your sporting adventure.
Please note we can only provide cover for medical expenses incurred outside of the UK, and to extend cover to include bouldering you will need to include the Activity Pack add-on with your policy, which can be done by following the Quote form.
Key Features of our Bouldering Travel Insurance
Emergency Medical and Repatriation Expenses up to £10 million.
Personal Liability up to £2 million.
Baggage & Personal Effects up to £2,000.
Gadgets & Valuable up to £1,000.
Personal Money up to £500.
Passport and Visa replacement costs up to £300.
Unrestricted return trips home.
Cover if you wish to undertake light-manual or volunteer work.
Winter Sports
Facility to arrange or extend Insurance when already travelling.
Money-back 14-day cooling off period if you decide to cancel prior to departure.
Some FAQ's:
Non-manual/clerical work is covered automatically with a Big Cat policy. So, there’s nothing you need to add to be covered for things like teaching, caring or nursing.
With the Activity Pack, we can also cover work of a more manual nature. This can include things like WWOOFing, partaking in community or wildlife based conservation work, charity based supervised building / renovation projects or other permitted manual work (defined below).
Cover is excluded for any activity that involves the use of industrial machinery (other than tractors) or non-domestic power tools.
6 people found this faq useful.
Yes, bar work or working in a chalet is automatically covered with all of our policies.
4 people found this faq useful.
WWOOfing is classed as Permitted Manual Work, so with the Activity Pack, you’re covered.
(see above)
3 people found this faq useful.
Means WWOOFing, fruit picking, casual farm work. Other Manual Work can be covered as long as it does not involve the use of plant/trade/industrial/agricultural machinery (other than tractors) or non-domestic power tools.
Please get in touch if you'd like to find out if we can provide cover for any light manual work you will be doing.
3 people found this faq useful.
Decide Canada’s not for you, and want to return earlier than your full period of insurance?
Other insurers will tell you to wave goodbye to your money, but Big Cat lets you claim a partial premium refund for the unused time you didn’t stay in Canada.
How does the EARLY RETURN REFUND work?
Let’s say you buy a 24-month policy to cover your time in Canada. But after nine months, you decide that Canada’s not for you, and you want to return home. You may have invested a substantial amount for your 24 months Big Cat policy, most of which you’ll now no longer need. Unlike most insurers, Big Cat is happy to offer you a partial refund on the redundant portion of your insurance as a fair’s fair consolation. Please note that travel insurance premiums are not calculated on a pro-rata basis, as such, no refund is calculated in this manner either.
How does Big Cat calculate the amount of EARLY RETURN REFUND?
We take the length of time of the original policy and subtract the actual amount of time you have used, and payout the difference, deducting a £50 Cancellation Charge.
Are there other conditions that apply to my EARLY RETURN REFUND?
Only applicable to 24 month IEC policies.
We are not able to offer refunds to cover the first 6 months of the policy.
No refund can be given on a policy where a claim has been made or is likely to be made prior to the cancellation of your Big Cat policy.
You must be back in your home country and notify us by email of your wish to cancel the policy within 14 days of your arrival, please also provide us with proof of your return to the UK (flight ticket / e-ticket / boarding pass).
All refund calculations are based on the base premium paid only. Add-ons are non-refundable.
Can you give an example of how much I could receive back in my EARLY RETURN REFUND?
Say you took out a 24-month budget IEC policy costing £525.24, then you wish to cancel the policy after 9 months. Our 9-month budget IEC policy costs £312.55. So we deduct £312.55 from £525.24 = £212.99
Then we apply the £50 Cancellation Charge, refunding you a total of £162.99.
9 people found this faq useful.
If you get sick while travelling or you're seriously injured you are covered for emergency medical treatment including:
Hospitalisation
Ambulance costs
Surgery and follow up treatment
Visits to the Doctor
Repatriation
Prescribed Medicine
Emergency dental treatment to relieve pain and suffering (limited to £350)
24hrs Medical Emergency Assistance.
2 people found this faq useful.
Home visits are allowed if your policy duration is 4 months or more. There are no limits, you can come home as many times as you like, for as long as you like.
23 people found this faq useful.
To add any of our Activity Packs, just follow the Quote form - to stage 3 - there you will find all of the optional extras.
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List of automatically covered
medical conditions that do not
need to be declared
Acne, ADHD, Allergic reaction (Anaphylaxis) provided that you have not needed hospital treatment for this in the last 2 years, Allergic rhinitis,
Arthritis (the affected person must be able to walk independently at home without using mobility aids), Asthma (the diagnosis must have been
made when the affected person was under the age of 50, and the asthma be controlled by no more than 2 inhalers and no other medication),
Blindness or partial sightedness, Carpal tunnel syndrome, Cataracts, Chicken pox - if completely resolved, Common cold or flu, Cuts and abrasions
that are not self-inflicted and require no further treatment, Cystitis - provided there is no on-going treatment, Deafness, Diabetes (which is
controlled by diet or tablets only), Diarrhoea and vomiting - if completely resolved, Eczema, Enlarged prostate - benign only, Essential tremor,
Glaucoma, Gout, Haemorrhoids, Hay fever, Ligament or tendon injury - provided you are not currently being treated, Macular degeneration,
Menopause, Migraine - provided there are no on-going investigations, Nasal polyps, PMT, RSI, Sinusitis - provided there is no on-going treatment,
Skin or wound infections that have completely resolved with no current treatment, Tinnitus, Underactive Thyroid (Hypothyroidism), Urticaria,
Varicose veins in the legs.
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Important information
If you have a medical condition in addition to any of the automatically
covered medical conditions, all conditions will be excluded from cover
unless declared to the medical screening helpline.
What is classed as a medical condition?
a Any respiratory condition (relating to the lungs or breathing), heart
condition, stroke, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, allergy, or cancer for
which you have ever received treatment (including surgery, tests or
investigations by your doctor or a consultant/ specialist or prescribed
medication).
b Any psychiatric or psychological condition (including anxiety, stress
and depression) for which you have suffered which you have received
medical advice or treatment or been prescribed medication for in the
last five years.
c Any medical condition for which you have received surgery, in-patient
treatment or investigations in a hospital or clinic within the last
12 months, or for which you are prescribed medication.
Any premium for medical screening quoted can be paid directly. This can
be done either before or after taking out a policy with us. The policy
and medical extension connect automatically, no reference numbers need
to be exchanged.
Choosing not to declare a medical condition will not invalidate cover,
but any costs incurred in relation to an undeclared condition will not
be covered.
If making a declaration all medical conditions must be declared, you
can't choose to only declare certain conditions.
Medical conditions can only be declared for up to 12 months at a time. A
second declaration will have to be made after 12 months if necessary.
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