Plan for the Best, Prepare for the Worst

Photo credit to http://www.cours-photographie.fr/

A massive amount of planning and preparation goes into making sure the expedition is as safe as possible. Our first priority is our own well being - we fully intend on coming back in one piece!! We are paddling in an extremely remote area so it would be irresponsible to not have appropriate insurance in place. Medical evacuation from wilderness areas is extremely costly and it is just not worth taking the risk not having it.

You need to check the details really carefully though. Many insurers have exemptions for adventurous activities and obviously the risk the insurance company is taking on an unsupported canoe expedition in Arctic Canada is not the same as sitting on a beach in Southern Spain. It is also worth checking the clauses on what the insurance company will and will not pay out on. Again many do not include certain electrical items such as cameras without an extra premium.  The excess is also something you need to weigh up. Some policies end up costing nearly as much as the kit itself whilst others have such a high excess per item on personal kit it won't help much.

I'd recommend you pick a specialist insurer that lists the particular activity you plan to engage in. Should the worst happen you are much more likely to get a successful pay out if the insurer knows exactly what it is they are insuring. It may cost more but there is no point fudging it because if you are doing something out-with the insurance, for example an accident on Grade/Class 4 water when you are only insured for Grade/Class 2 will likely invalidate it.

Shop around, find something that will give you piece of mind then do everything you can to never have to use it!!