Feeling inspired by Rio 2016? Make sure you add our Gold-medal worthy Activity Packs!

The 31st Olympiad is happening this August in Brazil, from the 5th until the 21st, with the host-city of the vibrant  Rio de Janeiro.  Even if you’re not lucky enough to be travelling there, lots of us are bound to be glued to our armchairs to watch the many sports that make up this amazing and unique, 4-yearly spectacle.  London 2012 was a very special Olympics for those of us in the UK, and we hope that this year’s event brings a similar feel-good factor for the people, and tourism of Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro is the official host city, but other cities that will also be hosting include Sao Paolo (Brazil’s largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasilia (the capital) and also Manaus.

For those that are lucky enough to be heading there in person, here is a guide to tickets, dates, flights and hotels Click here.

Click here for a link to the official website, which has news, maps of venues, a sports map and lots more, including a guide to each of the 28 sports that will be represented. For the very first time, this will also include the freshly-included sports of Rugby Sevens and Golf.

Feeling inspired to take on your own personal sporting challenge? For travellers who are taking out one of our comprehensive travel insurance policies, there is cover included as standard for a wide range of sports and leisure activities, without any additional cost, as part of Activity Pack 1. There are over 100 listed, including everything from bungee jumping to doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge experience. Not all holidaymakers want to chillax on a sunbed whilst they’re away (although there’s nothing wrong with that!) and many want to include an element of adventure into their time away, perhaps trekking at altitude or plumping for an adrenaline-fuelled skydive. Whatever you plan to do, make sure that you’re covered should incident or injury occur, and the necessary medical treatment would be covered.

If travellers intend to take part in a sport or activity that our underwriters consider to involve more of a risk factor, then they will need to add additional Activity Packs to extend their cover accordingly. Each additional Activity Pack taken out in conjunction with our Longstay, Working Holiday, Backpacker, Medicare or Emigration policies costs £36, and will then cover them for all of the Activities in the preceding Activities Packs,. For example, if you wanted cover to do hang gliding, you need to add Activity Pack 4, so an additional £36 x 3 (£108) is added to the cost of your policy. You would then be covered for all sports listed in Activity Packs  1, 2, 3 and 4 for the duration of your policy. If you have cover under the correct Activity Pack, and you are injured whilst taking part in whatever is your sport of choice, then the subsequent medical treatment (including potential repatriation back to the UK) would be covered.

Sometimes, you may not know in advance all of the activities that you will do whilst you’re away on your travel adventure, and decide while you’re actually away to seize the day and go for that skydive, or tick a trek to Macchu Picchu off your bucket list. It’s important that you check whether all of your planned activities are covered by your current Pack, and if not, get in touch with us to add an extra Activity Pack before actually doing it! No matter how experienced you are in doing a sport or leisure pursuit and no matter how careful the safety precautions- nothing is without risk, and the potential for mishap  -you need to be covered should an accident occur. If not, you are leaving yourself exposed to the possibility of being left hundreds or thousands of pounds worse off.

Here are some costs associated with injuries you could potentially pick up whilst doing a couple of popular Gap Year activities:

• Helicopter evacuation from a ski slope will cost up to £1, 500 in Europe
• Getting back to the UK from a ski accident can entail a special flight costing up to £4000 from Europe and £8000 from the USA and Canada
• Helicopter evacuation from Everest Base Camp costs US $2500 an hour and would normally take 2 hours to be evacuated from Base Camp to nearby Lukla

 (Sources The Telegraph,  and Mountain Guides)

To link in with the various sports that will be competed at the upcoming Olympics, we’ve had a look at them and whether they would be covered as standard by Activity Pack 1 or need to be covered by an additional Activity Pack. The table below, refers to the Activity Packs that are applied in relation to our Longstay, Working Holiday, Backpacker, Medicare Extra and Emigration policies. To be covered, the activities need to be done on an amateur, non-competitive and recreational basis, for not more than 25% of your time away.

Our standard Activity Pack 1 covers nearly 100 sports and leisure pursuits – including the ones listed above in Activity Pack one, and also popular gap year pastimes such as bungee jumping and scuba diving to depths of 30 metres (as long as you have the appropriate PADI qualification or are under expert tuition).  This covers many popular leisurely activities such as a beach kickaround, a visit to an animal sanctuary, hot-air ballooning and also horse riding (no jumping). It’s important to note that you are expected to wear a safety hat whilst taking part in any equestrian activity, and you’d also be expected to wear protective headwear to take part in track cycling and BMXing.

Take a look at some more information about our Activity Packs and how they work here. If your chosen activity isn’t on the list, please get in touch and we can let you know whether we can offer cover (and under which Activity Pack), and how much it would cost. You can get in touch by email on [email protected] or give us a ring in the office on 01424 559205 and let us know about your trip, and we can give you a quote for your trip away.

As well as covering you for the sports that you will be taking part in, our policies also offer comprehensive cover with all of the key benefits that you would expect,  to protect you during your travels. We offer cover for travellers on single trips, gap years and working holidays. We also specialise in offering competitive cover for travellers emigrating away from the UK, and also for older travellers. Take a look at what we can offer here.

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We regularly get great reviews for the customer service we provide, and the great-value travel insurance that we offer, via the independent review site FEEFO. Why not give us a ring in the office on 01424 223964 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm) to find out for yourself how we go the extra mile in terms of customer service and friendly support in buying your travel insurance – before you take the plunge!

*Please be aware that Activity Packs and prices are correct at the time of publishing, but may be subject to change.