Anyone find something that provides good cover?
Lots of travel insurance policies exclude ‘extreme sports’, ‘trekking in remote areas’, ‘trekking above 3000m’, ‘trekking alone’, ‘mountain biking’, and so on.
Of course so few people unicycle that there are rarely any clear legal guidelines around it. But insurance companies don’t like to pay benefits, so they can improvise.
I’m wondering if alpine / mountaineering clubs are a place to look. I need something that doesn’t require residency in a specific country, as I live in Singapore where there is almost no market for insurance products for ‘maybe extreme’ sports in high mountain areas.
Any help, experiences would be appreciated!
German alpine club DAV
I don’t know what the details are concerning residency and location, but in general, yes, the alpine clubs offer what you’re talking about for their members. For example, basic membership in the German alpine club (Deutsche Alpenverein) includes mountain rescue, including such things as helicopter airlift.
No coverage for high elevation mountain climbing (i.e. over 3000m) and expiditions, although they then offer extra insurance for these things.
But mountain biking, alpine hiking, rock climbing and such are included, so mountain unicycling should be included as mountain sport activity.
I couldn’t directly see if there is a residency requirement, but instead a statement saying that you don’t have to live in the region where you join:
Translation: For basic services of the DAV such as insurance and reduced cost hut on accommodation, residence location has no significance (i.e. limitation).
However, this is directed to people joining a different section than the one where they live (i.e. living in Hamburg and joining the Stuttgart section), so there still could be a requirement that you live in Germany, but I don’t seem to see it stated anyway. Membership costs about €70/year for the membership.
And I think most of the other European mountain clubs are simliar (i.e. Switzerland, France, Italy) so I think you should be able to find one without a residency requirement.
I think it would be worth contacting and asking if you can join from a foreign country (“Ausland”).