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.
If 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. For cover to apply the Already Travelling extension must be shown on your Booking Invoice or Validation Certificate (as applicable). 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.
There is no 14 Day Cooling off Period and no premium refund will be made if the insured Person has already travelled.
family family
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 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.
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
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 visits offered 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.
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.
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 excluding North America & Mexico:
Worldwide means anywhere in the World including the USA, Canada & Mexico.
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 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.
We are unable to quote, Please ring our Offices on 0333 0033 161 for further assistance.
Included in all the Policies, The Standard Pack covers you for 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 .
But if you want to go higher, then our Activity Pack covers you up to 4,600 metres, which would just include reaching the peak of the Matterhorn at 4,478 metres or the highest part of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu at 4,430 metres.
Our Extreme Activity Pack covers above 4,600 metres, with no upper altitude limit and is suited to the most challenging of mountain treks such as Mt Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, and Mont Blanc.
For many people a holiday means a week or two relaxing on a beach or beside a pool. But why idle all day on a sun lounger when you can be strolling through an alpine meadow, breathing in pure air, exploring glaciers, passing behind waterfalls or hopping over mountain streams? Walking, rambling, hiking, trekking . . . call it what you will . . . is surely one of the most addictive and rejuvenating holiday experiences.
Not only do you get the adrenaline buzz from the exercise, but you can also get off the beaten track to explore some of the world’s most spectacular and awe-inspiring scenery
Whether you choose to walk alone, with friends, or as part of an organised group, you need to have the right insurance in place to give you peace of mind and to cover any mishaps along the way. Don’t forget that trekking is often undertaken in remote areas where medical or other assistance is not always close at hand.
What could be a relatively minor complication in normal circumstances, such as a sprained ankle or fractured bone, could necessitate a helicopter rescue if such an accident occurs in mountainous or isolated terrain. Add the costs of any hospital treatment or if repatriation to the UK is medically necessary, makes it essential that you have suitable insurance to cover all of these eventualities.
Yes, Helicopter Rescue is covered.
Helicopter rescue is classed as a necessary Medical Expense, so is covered by the Medical & Repatriation expenses section of cover (limit of either £2m, £5m or £10m depending on the policy)
To get a quote, please visit our Trekking Insurance page by following this link.
We have no upper altitude limit with our Extreme Activity Pack Add-on. Otherwise, with the Activity Pack you can trek up to 4,600m. And if you're only trekking up to 2,500m, there's no need to add anything on - Trekking up to 2,500m is one of the 64 activities we cover for free.
Please note for trekking in Nepal the Nepal Trekking Pack add-on will need to be included. A 7,000m altitude limit is applied to this.
How do you include these Add-ons? See question below.
To add any of our Activity Packs, just follow the Quote form - to stage 3 - there you will find all of the optional extras.
It is recommended that when travelling to any remote areas, you go in a group of at least 3 people with a 2 way working communications device, a navigation device, you let someone(s) know your route and when you should arrive, as Search and Rescue costs are not covered.
The Additional Mountain Rescue section of cover is a specific level of cover that takes effect when helicopter rescue is deemed necessary by the local Rescue Authorities due to a non-medical emergency such as natural disasters or adverse weather conditions.
This section of cover does not apply to Medically Necessary helicopter evacuations - these costs are covered under the Medical & Repatriation section of cover.
Yes, if trekking outside of Nepal, but there’s no cover if trekking on unrecognised routes.
If you are trekking within Nepal you must have our Nepal Trekking Activity Pack add-on included and there is no cover for trekking without a guide.
We do recommend going with a qualified guide or group of no less than 3 people, as search costs and non-medical rescue costs aren’t covered, only rescue from a known and agreed location is. The search aspect is usually cut out completely, or minimised, when trekking with a guide as they may carry some sort of GPS tracking with them and have an in-depth knowledge of the area. Whereas if you’re injured without a guide you may have a hard time describing your location to the helicopter rescue services, if you can contact them at all.
Altogether it’s a lot safer going with a guide, which is why we recommend it, but going without one doesn’t invalidate cover (outside of Nepal) provided you use recognised routes and take all necessary precautions.
We class mountaineering as any section of a climb that you can’t walk or scramble up, or that requires more than standard additional trekking safety equipment (Ice axes, crampons and ropes to tie the party together are classed as standard equipment). Using ropes to ascend a vertical rock face would be considered mountaineering and therefore only covered with the Extreme Activity Pack Plus add-on included.
You must be able to trek to the summit of the mountain or other specific destination to be covered with our trekking cover. So, even if you are ascending a mountain that requires climbing or mountaineering for only a very short time we can't cover injuries sustained anywhere along the route, even if you were trekking at the time, unless the Extreme Activity Pack Plus add-on has been included.
There is an excess of £1500 applied to all Helicopter Rescue claims in Nepal.
Why is the Excess so high?
Trekking in Nepal has never been more popular. But recently there has been a massive surge in the number of helicopter rescues. Most rescues arise where a climber either has a serious accident or needs urgent hospitalisation through acute mountain sickness (AMS) due to a too rapid an exposure to low oxygen at high elevation. The simplest remedy is to descend 500m and remain there until the symptoms disappear. This should happen in most cases and should certainly not require a helicopter rescue. Recently, however, around 70% of helicopter rescues are down to AMS.
It appears that widescale fraud in the Nepalese trekking industry has seen helicopter operators, hospitals, guides, trekking companies and even trekkers themselves colluding to extort large sums of money from insurers through unnecessary claims for helicopter rescues and hospital treatment. If substantial kick-backs can be earned should a client need a rescue then there is an incentive for unscrupulous guides/trekking company to deliberately incur AMS by taking clients up too high too fast, or by adding baking soda to meals to induce vomiting and diarrhoea. Sometimes clients can be offered a bribe or a free helicopter ride if they don’t fancy trekking back down the mountain. They are then coached in what to tell their insurers.
Consequently, many insurers have either withdrawn from providing cover for trekkers to Nepal or have been forced to whack up the premiums. So it is important for all trekkers to Nepal to be aware of the situation and follow this advice:
Don't be drawn into any scam. Insurance fraud is a crime and adds to the cost of your holiday through added premiums.
Here is an article published regarding Nepal: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/world/asia/nepal-everest-insurers-fraud.html
While only the very few ever get to scale the mighty 8,848m peak of Everest, the next best thing for the seasoned adventurer is the classic route to Everest Base Camp.
The Annapurna Circuit, a 15 to 20 day trek within the Annapurna mountain range of central Nepal, is prized as one of the best treks in the world. The route encompasses a rich mix of terrain from jungle to paddy fields, waterfalls to canyons, as well as a cultural variety from Hindu villages
Trekking to the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu, with its spectacular mountain-top location in the Andes, is one of the world’s most iconic hikes. Machu Picchu was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007 and is classed a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level, is the highest mountain on the African continent. It is one of the Seven Summits – the highest mountain peaks of each of the seven continents – that requires no technical climbing skills since all of its trekking routes are pure hiking paths.
Aconcagua, at 6,961 metres, is the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located in Argentina within the Andes mountain range, close to the border with Chile. It is one of the Seven Summits - the highest mountains of each of the seven continents - and the second highest peak in the world outside of the Himalayas.
The Pacific Crest Trail is a spectacularly scenic long-distance hiking trail stretching from Mexico via the USA to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington. It follows the highest section of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges and, along the way,
Big Cat Travel Insurance Services, a trading name of Flynow.com Ltd (registration No.FRN 745388) is an Appointed Representative of Campbell Irvine Ltd (registration No.306242) who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. You may check this on the Financial Services register www.fca.org.uk or by contacting them on (0) 800 111 6768. © 2018 Big Cat Travel Insurance Services. All rights reserved.
