UKH

Hello,

I will be going on an expedition to the Western Kokshal too area of the Tien Shan in Kyrgyzstan and need to arrange insurance. In the past I have always gone with the BMC insurance as I have always found their service excellent and they have a proven track record of getting people out of remote areas in difficult situations.

Has anybody had experience/knowledge of the Austrian Alpine Club insurance cover and track record for arranging rescues etc? Or any other providers for that matter? Equipment cover is not a massive consideration.

Thanks

NMM

In reply to Northern Mountain Monkey:

I don't know about using it 'at the sharp end', but if you are going for a while be aware that it only covers the first 8 weeks of any trip outside the UK. Further cover can be arranged through their insurers at EUR 1.60 per day, but must be done before leaving the UK.

Friends who have considered this for long trips have ended up using Dogtag instead. From a quick glance it seems pricey but good.

Check out those facts for yourself though, nothing is guaranteed correct.

In reply to Northern Mountain Monkey:

No experience claiming on any of these, however...

Last year in Kyrgyzstan we all took out BMC insurance which we found expensive, but it was a condition of receiving a grant from them for the trip.

Another team out there had some members climbing with just the AAC cover. I think they were happy with this but there is a general concern that it comes with quite a small S&R limit I believe. Ultimately I think it doesn't cover you for very many hours (minutes!) of helicopter flight time (for instance). I would have to check the details to confirm.

In the alps, there are other threads on here of people's AAC experience which in easily accessible areas is apparently normally positive.