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Cover up
Specific golf travel insurance offers the wandering golfer more peace of mind than your average policy, as
SAM FREDERICK discovered.
If you’ve ever lost your luggage on a Golf Care’s director of golf, Paul Wilson, survive a major medical emergency abroad
foreign trip you will already know how explained: “Some travel policies have a golf – it’s a vital purchase especially on the golf
difficult the process can be when trying to option but most provide insufficient cover course where the risk of getting hit by a
claim with your insurance company. If the for golfers, with golf equipment only covered wayward ball is greater than on the beach!
lost luggage is golf clubs then the difficulty up to £1,000 and no provision for the hire of With travel policies that offer a golf option,
level may increase threefold. golf clubs to at least get you on the course. unless you have selected that option,
medical emergencies resulting from an
In layman’s terms, “You’ll survive an airport delay, but you injury or anything else on the course –
may well miss a pre-booked tee-time slot such as a heart attack – won’t be covered.
once in every 100 golf
for which you will not be compensated If there is not golf option to select then the
trips you’ll lose part
with most travel policies. Of course the small print must be read very carefully to
of your luggage really serious reason to purchase travel see whether a medical incident is covered
insurance concerns medical emergencies. while participating in a sporting activity
Yet, according to the British Insurance Without cover you genuinely may not such as golf.”
Brokers’ Association, an astonishing 25
per cent of travellers still leave home
without any form of travel insurance, let
alone specialist insurance. Unless you’re
dealing with specialist companies golfers
can often be regarded as second-class
citizens – paying over the odds to take
clubs on a flight is a prime example.
Some insurance companies, however,
have realised those of us travelling with
our sticks are a different breed, with our
own special requirements and are offering
golf-specific travel insurance in addition to
the normal cover for bumping somebody
on the ‘bonce’ with an errant shot.
Cheshire-based Golf Care, for example,
offers golf-specific travel policies from just
£4.85. The policy covers all the normal travel
essentials including cancellation and curtail-
ment, medical treatment and repatriation,
delayed departure, holiday abandonment,
missed departure and personal accident,
but also throws in cover for golf equipment,
equipment hire – in the event of your gear
being half-inched by a local hoodlum – and
green fees (unused in the event of trip
curtailment, illness or accident).
It’s worth taking out, particularly if you’re a
regular golf traveller, as while airlines are
considered to lose just one per cent of the
luggage they handle each year, that’s still a
staggering 20 million bags a year. And, if
you look at it in layman’s terms, once in
every 100 golf trips you’ll lose part of your There’s always a slight chance your clubs
luggage. I don’t like those odds personally. might get damaged by the baggage handlers
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Tips to avoid losing your luggage
Check in early so the airline has
plenty of time to label your bag
correctly and send it in the right
direction. Much of the luggage lost
belongs to people who arrive at the
check-in at the last minute.
Label clearly every piece of
luggage with a sealed and water-
proof tag. Include your name,
onward address, telephone number
and email address.
Include a label on the inside of
your bag as well. If the outside label
Golf clubs not turned up? Thank heavens falls off during the flight, airport staff
you took out that insurance…
will still be able to find you from the
label on the inside.
He added: “To give some guide to costs of public liability cover; third-party property
treatment if you don’t have insurance, a damage; and personal accident; plus the Make sure the check-in employee
heart attack can cost you £8,000 to treat in advantage of 120 days worldwide overseas has labelled your bag correctly. The
Spain and could be as high as £110,000 in cover as standard with every policy. label should have the three-letter
the USA. Then you need to get back to the airport code of your final destination.
UK and the air ambulance costs can easily Seward added: “My advice to golfers who
run into the tens of thousands of pounds.” are planning a break in the UK, Europe or Buy distinctive luggage to avoid
further afield is to check a golf insurance somebody thinking it’s theirs. Or
Travelling golfers are also not always provider’s policy conditions carefully and simply make your luggage
aware they are liable for the same risks make sure they get the right level of cover unique: tie on a bright
they face playing at home. Simon Seward, for their requirements. Some insurers only ribbon or wrap it with
commercial director for Golfplan – the cover golfers when travelling directly to a colourful strap.
official insurance provider to the PGA – and from the golf course and apply age
explained: “We believe that having the limits on golf equipment when replacing
right level cover at home and overseas is new for old. Some companies do not because, overall, golf cover will be
essential for all golfers. Our policy-holders provide 24/7 theft-from-car cover, which just a small part of the company’s portfolio
is vital when you are playing away from and will almost certainly not provide cover
Some insurance home. We’ve also discovered our policy- as comprehensive as a specialist like Golf
companies have holders like the convenience of built-in Care or Golfplan.
overseas cover as standard.”
realised those of us
As in most things, if you do your home-
travelling with our Golfplan also offers its golf insurance work, you shouldn’t be found with your
sticks are a different policy-holders an option to purchase a plus-fours down…
breed bolt-on annual worldwide travel insurance
policy, which can save time and money.
Useful information
can tee off anywhere in the world with the The policies provide extensive cover
peace of mind that their cover is just the including skiing and scuba diving, which Golf Care
same as it is at home. Golfers are some insurers do not provide or charge www.golfcare.co.uk / 0800 158 5515
becoming far more adventurous with their an additional cost. Golfplan
choice of golf-break locations.” www.golfplan.co.uk / 0800 591834
Nowadays, it’s not unusual for the non-
Golfshield
Golfplan offers golfers a comprehensive niche insurance companies to offer golf
www.golfshield.co.uk / 024 7685 1000
package of essential benefits including insurance in one way or another as a
new-for-old cover (regardless of the age of supplement. But, as Seward suggested, Golf Guard
the equipment); 24-hour theft from car; £5m it’s always worth checking the small print www.golfguard.com / 0800 581801
www.goingforgolf.com 73