Make sure your family is covered for extreme sports this Easter

Tycoon Richard Branson recently announced plans to explore the depths of the ocean in Virgin Oceanic, a jet-submarine that descends 11 000 metres, and said he may one day take passengers on deep sea dives. However, while Branson has the finances in place to maintain his family should something happen, it is essential for others engaging in unusual or extreme sports to ensure that their life insurance and disability policy covers them in the event of an accident.

According to John Marsden, National Sales Director at PPS, this is particularly important ahead of the Easter holidays when many people may use the long weekend to engage in activities such as paragliding, quad biking or a number of other extreme sports. “If your leisure activity is deemed to be a ‘hazardous pursuit’ by your insurer, then some insurance policies may not cover you in the event of an accident.”

“Most people wrongly assume that their insurance policy will still cover them if they have an accident regardless of how it happened, yet this is often not the case as some policies may contain exclusions, for example hazardous pursuits.”

He says PPS has no such exclusions on its policies, ensuring that its members are covered anywhere in the world in any eventuality. “Our policies do not have any exclusions relating to hazardous pursuits, so all of our members are automatically insured. There is no need to either specify the sports you are taking part in or to obtain separate cover.”

Hazardous pursuits generally include activities such as motor sports, quad biking, flying light aircraft, scuba diving, mountaineering or abseiling, though Marsden advises contacting your insurer for a comprehensive list.

“By their very nature, these hazardous pursuits involve a high degree of risk and there is a chance that those engaging in them will get injured or even die. It is simply irresponsible to undertake these activities without being absolutely sure you or your family will be looked after in the event of an accident.”

He cautions that while insurance is likely to be the last thing on many people’s mind this Easter, it is during such periods that they are likely to take part in hazardous activities and they should therefore review their life and disability cover before getting into the holiday spirit, rather than wait for the incident to happen.

Unlike PPS insurance benefits, Marsden says most policies require people to apply for the additional cover at an extra premium, which can often prove to be very expensive compared with the cost of an ordinary policy. “It’s not cheap to get coverage for activities that are perceived as hazardous. In fact, some insurers not only automatically exclude coverage for hazardous pursuits, but will also refuse to provide cover against such activities at all.”

Marsden says that PPS members have the peace of mind of knowing that they have comprehensive cover at a far lower premium than many other policies.”