You’ve booked your flights, paid your race entry and organised your accommodation. Your bike is packed, and you’re heading overseas for a triathlon, cycling event, marathon or another sporting challenge.
Then comes the question: Do I actually need travel insurance?
For many travellers, the answer seems simple: “My credit card includes travel insurance.”
And it may. Credit card travel insurance can provide useful protection for an ordinary overseas holiday. But travelling to participate in a sporting event can be very different from taking a standard holiday.
The important question isn’t simply whether you have travel insurance. It’s whether your insurance is appropriate for what you’re actually travelling to do.
Credit Card Travel Insurance Can Be Valuable
Travel insurance included with an eligible credit card shouldn’t automatically be dismissed. Depending on the card and policy, it may provide cover for things such as:
- Overseas medical expenses
- Cancellation or disruption
- Lost or delayed luggage
- Travel delays
- Rental vehicle excess
- Personal liability
There may also be requirements that need to be met before the insurance becomes active, such as paying for a certain proportion of your travel using the card.
For a conventional overseas holiday, this type of insurance may be perfectly adequate. But an athlete travelling for an event has some additional questions to consider.
Does the Policy Cover Your Sporting Activity?
This is one of the most important differences. Travel insurance policies can contain exclusions or restrictions around particular sports and activities.
An athlete travelling overseas to race a triathlon, cycling event or marathon shouldn’t assume that because recreational cycling or running is covered, participation in an organised race or event is automatically covered as well.
The distinction can become particularly important with activities such as:
- Triathlon
- Road cycling and cycle racing
- Mountain biking
- Open-water swimming
- Adventure racing
- Trail and ultra running
- Ironman and long-distance endurance events
You need to check the policy wording and understand exactly what activities are covered, whether competition is included, and whether any additional conditions apply.
What About Your Bike and Sporting Equipment?
For many athletes, their most valuable piece of luggage isn’t in their suitcase. It’s their bike.
A modern road, triathlon or mountain bike can be worth many thousands of dollars. Add race wheels, a power meter, helmet, wetsuit, cycling computer and other equipment and the value can quickly become substantial.
Standard travel insurance – including insurance provided through some credit cards – may have limits applying to individual items or categories of sporting equipment.
That can create a significant gap between the value of your equipment and the amount you could potentially claim.
Before travelling, consider:
- What is the maximum cover for my bike?
- Is sporting equipment covered while in transit?
- Are there individual-item limits?
- Does the policy treat checked sporting equipment differently from ordinary luggage?
- What happens if my bike arrives damaged?
Having $20,000 of general baggage cover, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean your $12,000 bike is insured for $12,000. The individual limits and exclusions matter.
What Happens if You Can’t Race?
Athletes often spend considerable amounts of money preparing for an overseas event. There may be:
- Race entry fees
- Flights
- Accommodation
- Bike transport
- Transfers
- Training camps
- Pre-paid activities
If injury or illness prevents you from travelling, or forces you to change your trip, cancellation cover can become extremely important.
However, what can be claimed – and under what circumstances – varies considerably between policies. Race entry fees are a particularly good example. They can be expensive, but you shouldn’t assume they’re covered simply because your policy includes cancellation insurance.
Medical Cover Matters Even More When You’re Racing
Nobody travels expecting to end up in hospital. But endurance sport inevitably introduces additional risk.
A crash during a bike race, an accident during training, an injury on a trail or a medical incident during a triathlon can potentially result in substantial overseas medical costs.
The critical question is whether your insurance covers the activity you were undertaking when the incident occurred. A policy providing excellent overseas medical insurance isn’t much help if the circumstances surrounding the accident fall within an exclusion.
Don’t Forget the Training Before the Event
Your race might only last a few hours, but you’ll probably be training during the days leading into it. That might involve riding unfamiliar roads, swimming at the race venue or running around a new city.
Your insurance therefore needs to be considered for the whole sporting trip, rather than just race day.
The Difference Specialist Travel Insurance Can Make
Specialist travel insurance doesn’t necessarily mean that every sporting activity or every piece of equipment is automatically covered. The advantage is that the insurance can be considered in the context of the trip you’re actually taking.
Rather than asking: “Do I have travel insurance?” the conversation becomes: “I’m travelling overseas to compete in this event, I’m taking this equipment, and these are the activities I’ll be doing. What cover do I need?”
That’s a much better starting point.
Five Questions to Ask Before Relying on Your Credit Card Insurance
Before heading overseas for your next event, check:
- Does the policy cover participation in my specific sport and event?
- Is competitive participation covered, rather than just recreational activity?
- What are the limits for my bike and other sporting equipment?
- What cancellation costs are covered if injury, illness or another insured event prevents me from travelling or racing?
- Are there any conditions I need to meet before the credit card insurance is activated?
If you’re uncertain about any of those answers, it’s worth finding out before you leave.
Credit Card Insurance or Specialist Insurance?
This isn’t about saying that credit card travel insurance is bad. For some travellers and some trips, it may provide perfectly suitable cover.
The difference is that sporting travel isn’t always ordinary travel.
When you’ve invested months of training, thousands of dollars in equipment and significant money getting yourself to an event, it’s worth making sure your insurance has been considered with that trip in mind.
At HMIS, we help athletes and active travellers understand the insurance options available for their particular trip, including the sport they’re participating in and the equipment they’re travelling with.
Because the best time to discover a limitation in your insurance policy is before you travel – not after something has gone wrong.
Explore Sports Travel Insurance →
Taking your bike overseas? Talk to HMIS before you travel →
This article provides general information only and does not take into account your individual circumstances. Insurance cover, limits, exclusions and eligibility vary between policies. Always refer to the relevant policy wording and seek advice appropriate to your circumstances.
