On an activities based holiday you need specialist travel insurance

Holidays are getting riskier as an increasing numbers of travellers seek exotic far-flung destinations or are taking part in extreme sports and exhilarating adventure activities.

David Stirling of broker Crispin Speers & Partners, which provides specialist travel insurance, says, “People increasingly want more from their time off work and are looking to be challenged, whether it is from charity work or physically demanding activities like trekking or mountaineering. But standard travel insurance policies do not cover activities based holidays. Basic travel insurance purchased from a bank or a travel agent may cover a few hours of horse riding or white water rafting where it is not the main purpose of a trip. However, for a week long ranching or a kayaking holiday you will need to buy specialist insurance. Even for winter sports holidays like skiing, ordinary travel insurance will provide little or no cover. In particular, skiers should make sure they have adequate insurance to cover third party liabilities, such as the costs of being sued for damages if they cause an accident.”