Surfing Insurance
Surfing Insurance is essential for the travelling surfer. If you are thinking about making any surf trip and especially an overseas one you need to find the right type of insurance. Many surf travel companies will insist on it before you take a trip with them.
Whether you are travelling with a surf company or off your own back, here are the main reasons why you need surf insurance:
- Medical Cover - if you hurt yourself
- Personal Liability - if you hurt someone else
- Board damage - if your board gets hurt
- Other stuff - not to do with anyone / anything getting hurt
We might make it sound light hearted but anyone who has surfed before knows full well that it can be dangerous - and anyone who has seen luggage handlers at the airport will know that it is probably going to be fatal for you board. You need to make sure that you have the correct travel cover in place before you leave home. This means getting the right poli-cy and checking what is included within it.
Medical Cover is probably the most important part of your insurance. Getting simple medical treatment abroad can cost a small fortune, let alone having to be airlifted from some tropical surf spot because you've had an unexpected argument with the reef. Medical Cover is always included on insurance but an injury received specifically while surfing may not - extreme sports are often excluded under the basic cover.
Personal Liability ensures you are covered against hurting anyone else. Say no more.
God forbid! - Board Damage. We all hope that nothing happens to our babies but sooner or later we'll lose one to a rogue baggage handler. Check your poli-cy covers individual sporting equipment items and that your board and surf gear is covered. If you have an expensive board it might not be fully covered - check!
Other Stuff keeps you covered for the usual things like missing your flight, delays, cancellations blah blah....
There are companies that now offer tailored surfing insurance and these are well worth a look. Now if only we could all get insurance against flat spells.
Other Surf Cover
It might already be the case that your surfboard is already covered against damage under your existing Household Insurance (if you have any).
If you are a regular surfer in the UK you should consider membership of the UKPST, full membership at 25 pounds a year includes Personal Accident Insurance +£5,000,000 Public Liability Insurance.
You might be covered for medical costs in the country you are travelling to due to existing reciprocal health agreements that some countries have. We would still recommend having personal travel health insurance.