If you’ll be doing anything more than leisure cycling on your trip, you’re likely to need extra cover or specialist cycling travel insurance. Find out more.
While standard travel insurance can protect you against unexpected situations, it usually only covers leisure cycling, like hiring a bike for a day. Not anything more adventurous.
And if cycling is the only reason for your trip, you may not be covered for riding your bike at all. So it’s best to check the terms and conditions of your policy, as well as any exclusions.
Standard travel insurance typically has a single-item limit of £500, but this could be as low as £100 to £200, which may not be enough to cover the cost of your bike.
So if you’re going on a cycling holiday, getting the right type and level of cover means you’ll be protected if something happens to you, your bike, or your kit while you’re away.
To cover non-leisure cycling like mountain biking, you may need to upgrade your standard travel insurance with an extreme sports policy add-on.
But this may not cover mountain biking off-road or riding on mountain bike trails, or activities like touring and competing.
If you require more extensive cover, you’ll need to take out a separate specialist policy.
Cycling insurance has been specifically tailored to cover all the situations and different types of cycling a biking trip might involve.
As well as the usual cover that standard policies include, it provides protection for cycling-related mishaps, injuries and accidents, as well as your kit.
As well as covering what you’d expect to find with standard travel insurance, a comprehensive cycling policy can also include cover for:
If your bike is stolen or accidentally damaged while you’re away, your policy can help reimburse you for repairs or buying a replacement
With specialist cover you can insure several different bikes on one policy, although E-bikes may bump up your premiums
If your bike is lost, stolen or damaged and you need a temporary one to get you through, this will cover you for unexpected bike hire costs
You’ll be covered for any costs incurred if your bike doesn’t arrive in time, or if it’s lost or damaged while in transit
Cycling can be a dangerous sport, so any cycling related injuries will be covered. This often includes any emergency dental treatment you might need
If you have to miss a race or it’s cancelled because of an unexpected situation, you may be able to claim if you can’t get a refund or credit note
From GPS watches and GoPros to any other tech you have with you, your kit can be covered against theft and accidental damage during your trip
If you accidentally injure or hurt someone, this will provide protection if they make a legal claim against you. But cover may be excluded from some countries, like North America
If you can’t complete your trip and your bike is stranded, your policy will cover the cost of bringing it home for you
As with all travel insurance policies, you’ll need to declare any medical conditions you have when you take out cover.
You can usually get cycling travel insurance if you have a medical condition, but you might need to go through medical screening. You may find that special terms are added to your policy relating to your condition.
If you have a serious health condition, you’re likely to be charged higher premiums and in some cases you may need to take out a specialist policy.
There are lots of different features available when you buy cycling insurance, but not all insurers offer the same cover.
One of the important things to check is the number of days you can be covered. This typically ranges between 30, 60, or 90 days.
And whether you’ve got one trip booked or several cycling holidays lined up, you’ll need to decide whether to take out a single or multi-trip policy.
You should also check for:
Your cycling travel insurance won’t cover every eventuality and there are some circumstances it won’t pay out for if you make a claim.
Common exclusions include:
Always compare policies and check the terms and conditions to understand what is and isn’t covered.
If you’re going away and fancy hiring a bike for a day, or using your own bike for a few leisurely rides, you probably won’t need to add extra cover to your travel insurance policy.
But if you’ll be mountain biking or bringing a bike that’s worth much more than the single-item limit, make sure you’ve got the right type and level of cover.
Cycling holiday insurance is designed to cover biking activities you might do abroad that go well beyond leisure cycling, these can include:
Because serious cycling comes with greater risk, standard travel insurance won’t provide the necessary level of cover you need for a cycling holiday.
So always let your insurer know the type of cycling you’re planning to do to get the right cover.
This depends on your policy, if you’ve bought UK cycling insurance it might cover taking your bike abroad, but this may come with certain conditions.
It could cover your bike for situations like theft, accidental damage and vandalism while you’re on holiday.
But you’ll also need travel insurance that covers you and your possessions, and situations like trip cancellations, in case something happens to affect your holiday.