Our Guide to Travel Insurance for Horse Riding Holidays
Travel insurance is compulsory on all Globetrotting rides, regardless of whether you’re travelling within your home country or abroad. It’s absolutely imperative to be covered by travel insurance so that you have a safety net in case unexpected circumstances arise.
Travel insurance can cover you for financial losses caused by a wide range of events that may affect your trip, whether they occur before, during or even after your travels. Many policies now also offer COVID cover, which is essential to protect you and your travel investment from unforeseen events such as contracting coronavirus, border closures, lockdowns and cancellations.
You should purchase a travel insurance policy as soon as you have paid for your trip. That way you’ll be covered for pre-paid travel and accommodation if you need to cancel your trip due to a covered event, such as illness or a natural disaster.
Also, horse riding can be unpredictable at the best of times, so it’s ESSENTIAL to have a travel insurance policy that specifically covers horse riding as an activity. Don’t worry, we can help with this and provide you with a free, no-obligation quote – just email us at info@globetrotting.com.au.
When selecting a travel insurance policy, we require that, at a minimum, your policy includes COVID COVER {to the value of your ride cost}, horse riding as an activity, severe weather events, and medical expenses including emergency repatriation.
Why international travel insurance is so important
Travel insurance has never been more important than now, when the impacts of COVID-19 on global movement and health are plain as day. Medical treatment in some countries can be exceptionally expensive and in some cases it can be difficult to be admitted to a hospital and receive treatment unless you can guarantee payment. While overseas, if you don’t have appropriate travel insurance, you are personally liable for covering your medical costs. It’s not uncommon for even a short stay in, for example, an American hospital to cost tens of thousands of dollars.
According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), daily hospital costs in Southeast Asia regularly exceed $800 AUD and return of remains from Europe can cost in excess of $10,000. The cost of medical evacuations from the United States regularly ranges from $75,000 to $95,000 and sometimes up to $300,000 AUD. DFAT has also handled medical evacuations from Bali with costs exceeding $60,000.
Most international travel insurance policies cover not just overseas medical and dental expenses, but also lost or stolen luggage, liability cover, accidental death or disability, and unexpected expenses caused by delays, cancellations or rescheduled arrangements.
Some travel insurers also offer additional services, such as 24-hour medical emergency translation, which can make a huge difference to the quality of treatment you get while travelling.
Travel insurance through your credit card
First things first: if you have a credit card, give the company a call or read through their Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) to see if a) your current credit card includes travel insurance, b) that particular travel insurance policy includes horse riding, and c) whether there are any requirements you need to meet to qualify for this cover.
Travel insurance companies that include horse riding within their policy
As at the time of writing, the following insurance companies include horse riding (NOT including professional or competitive riding) within their travel insurance policy:
Australians: we recommend Cover-More (we’re not affiliated – we just genuinely believe they have the most comprehensive and well-priced policies). Please note that you’ll need to book via one of Globetrotting’s friendly travel agents. If you book direct through Cover-More, horse riding will not be included in your base policy and will need to be purchased as an additional extra. Rest assured, our travel agents provide obligation-free quotes and they’ll ensure you get the very best price.
An alternative to Cover-More is TID, which covers non-competitive horse riding with the exception of polo and has a similar level of COVID coverage to Cover-More. TID also allows you to start policies after you’ve left home, which is great if you choose to extend your trip!
Other Australian travel insurers that cover horse riding include GOINSURANCE, CHI Travel Insurance and World Nomads. And if you’re looking for a comprehensive list of Australian insurance companies, visit findaninsurer.
Kiwis – again, Cover-More is our first recommendation. At the time of writing, Cover-More New Zealand still includes horse riding automatically, but we strongly recommend checking before going ahead with your purchase.
Americans – these are some of the best companies that include horse riding and have great COVID cover: Tin Leg, Trawick International, Cat 70, HTH, John Hancock. You can also compare every travel insurance policy available on SquareMouth.
Canadians – Some of the best companies that have good COVID cover and automatically cover horse riding are World Nomads, Tugo, Manulife and Allianz. Members of theCAA may be able to get travel insurance through their regional club, although you’ll need to buy a COVID cover plan alongside a general travel plan.
Brits – the following companies have good COVID cover and include horse riding automatically: World Nomads, Post Office (riding for less than 7 days), CoverForYou, Southdowns and Coverwise.
Insurance for every nationality – although the options vary from country to country, Worldtrips and HeyMondo offer travel insurance to all nationalities. (If you choose HeyMondo, please note that horse riding is an adventure sports add-on: not automatically included, but not a big extra cost.) There’s also Nomad Insurance by SafetyWing, which uses a monthly subscription model, making it great for longer term travellers. Be sure to check the policy documents to ensure they cover everything you need.
**Always double check with the insurer and read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before committing to your policy.
Thanks to Understanding Insurance for providing useful information for this blog post.
I would love to hear your first hand experiences with travel insurance and if you can recommend another company that not only includes horse riding and COVID in their policy, but also offers superb customer service. Please leave a comment if you have a tip to share!