Getting Insurance for people who are professional or amateur rock climbers is probably a little more difficult than you imagine. Rock climbing is seen as a high risk sport. That can make insurers shy away from wanting to offer cover.
In this post we will will look at why you you are right to consider taking out protection insurance, the options available and how we can help
Why you should look at Insurance
Lets start with the obvious one, accidents.
There are around 30 deaths a year whilst rock climbing. Not a huge number, but when you consider rock climbing has largely been deemed as a niche sport on a percentage basis that is probably far more significant than other sports.
According to the National Institute of Health in the US, there are around 2.5 accidents per 1,000 mountaineers. Again, not a significant number but there is still a risk. Its clear there is a risk purely on the basis that many insurers are reluctant to offer cover or apply certain conditions or charge more… Insurers work on risk after all.
With rock climbing now being part of the olympics, its quite possible that the number of incidents will increase as the sport grows in popularity.
Life Insurance for Rock climbers
When researching these products there are various difference outcomes from the different life offices. Some will offer cover as standard, others have exclusions and others will include ratings (ie higher premiums) to include the sport.
But what you may not realise is that the way they do this differs. Some will have issue if you are climbing outdoors, others above a certain height and others base it on whether there is snow or ice! You can start to see that there are various different risks insurers deem as the priority.
This is where Matt comes in (more on Matt later). As someone who not only understands the sport but has also put in the time to understand the insurers views, we can ensure you are getting the best terms possible depending on the type of climbing you do. You can read more about life insurance for rock climbers here.
Income Protection for Rock climbers
Getting income protection for rock climbers can be difficult. It appears that most insurers will put an exclusion on. In practice that means if you were to make a claim as a result of something that happened whilst rock climbing it would probably not pay out. However, if you were to become poorly due to something unrelated it would.
However, the devil is in the detail with these things. It depends on the type of climbing you do. There way be ways around obtaining some cover but it is something we would need to discuss ni order to get the details and run it by the insurers directly.
Critical Illness for Rock climbers
Unlike Life Insurance, Critical Illness pays out if you were diagnosed with a aprticular condition and meet the defintion. You may be surprised that some of these conditions are more likely to be claimed on by people doing sports in general but that would also include rock climbing. The list of conditions does vary from insurer to insurer, but lets take a look at some…
Cardiac arrest and Heart Attack – both of these things can happen when you are pushing your body. There was a footballer Fabrice Muamba for example who collapsed on the pitch, he was a premier league player so extremely fit and healthy.
Loss of hand or foot, traumatic brain injury – As difficult as it is to discuss these things, they do happen. A fall or slip and it is possible you may need to make a cliam on one of these policies.
Our resident Rock climbing broker
Matt is our mountaineering expert, he has been involved in the sport for many years. He Has travelled the UK and Europe following his hobby. His partner is also an Champion mountain climber.
When we say we are able to help, it is because we have the experience as both a mountain climber and arranging insurance to ensure your hobbies are included in the cover. We know the questions to ask upfront to make it as slick and easy process as possible.
Summary
There is an increased risk to even the most experienced and methodical climber. The risk does not necessairly come from you but acts of god or those around you.
Whilst none of these policies or their features are designed specifically for rock climbers, they can ensure that you or your family are not financially burdened should something happen.
It is worth ensuring that any policy you have coveres your sport. Anyone can search for the cheapest premium. But it might be that paying an extra 50p a month gives you far more suitable protection. This is where Matt comes in. He not only understands the various insurance policies but he also understands rock climbing!
He can match up what you do with the insurer most likely to cover you. Not many brokers can say that.