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Adventure Sports and Activities

Travel insurance designed for adventures while traveling.

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When planning an overseas holiday, it’s not always easy to decide on the types of activities you’re going to do. This is why we’ve designed our travel insurance plans to offer cover for more than 150 adventure sports and activities from hiking, zip lining, dog sledding, scuba diving, snow skiing, white water rafting and more.

Your coverage will vary according to whether you choose a Standard or an Explorer plan, so its important to take the time to understand what activities you are likely to do, and the difference between our plans.

Adventure sports, travel insurance and what’s covered by our plans
What activities are covered?
What’s not covered
Questions to ask when choosing a plan

Adventure sports, travel insurance and what’s covered by our plans

The following is a small sample of what World Nomads plans offer (up to the benefit limits):

Emergency medical and evacuation coverage: if at any time during your trip, you or any of your travelling companions becomes sick or injured, then you’ll need to contact our 24/7 Emergency Assistance team right away. They can help to locate the nearest hospital or medical centre and will facilitate your repatriation back to New Zealand if your treating doctor believes this to be medically necessary.

Trip cancellation coverage: if you or anyone in your party gets sick or injured and you need to cancel your holiday plans, we may cover the non-refundable travel expenses. Please note, travellers must have already been issued with a Certificate of Insurance from World Nomads to have cancellation coverage available to them.

Coverage for extended stays: if you’re having an awesome time on your trip and choose to delay your return home to New Zealand, then you may be eligible to extend your travel insurance policy. You must not have had any change to your health, submitted a claim or intend to and are 69 years old or younger at the time to be eligible to extend. This must be done prior to 11:59pm on the return date that is listed on your policy. The policy may be extended for a total of 12 months from the start date that is indicated on your Certificate of Insurance.

Coverage for baggage and personal belongings: if your baggage or personal items are lost, damaged or stolen, then you’ll need to submit receipts, along with police reports or statements from your carrier (if the belongings were lost in transit).

The features and benefits described are a summary of cover only. Cover is subject to the full terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions outlined in the Policy Document.

a couple snorkelling — A couple snorkelling. Photo credit: Getty images / isitsharp

What activities are covered?

Kiwis are well known around the world for their love of the outdoors, sports and trying new experiences. During your holiday, you may wish to try activities and sports that aren’t commonly done back home in New Zealand.

Before purchasing your travel insurance policy, check your Policy Document to make sure that all the sports and activities that you intend to do are covered. World Nomads provides travel insurance for over 150 activities, sports and experiences. While this list might seem immense, it doesn’t cover everything. That’s why you should never take for granted that your preferred activities will be covered.

The following are only some of the many sports and activities covered under our policies:

Kayaking
Hiking
Surfing
Sandboarding
Snorkelling

An upgrade for certain sports may be required and terms and conditions apply for each sport. Check your policy for details or contact us if you have questions.

Questions to ask when choosing a plan

When hunting around for a travel insurance policy, you might be tempted to take the most cost-effective cover without reading through the Policy Document first. There are different policies to cover different types of holidays, and although reading this document can be a tedious task, it’s best to familiarise yourself with all the benefits, policy limits and exclusions before you purchase your cover.

World Nomads offer two travel insurance plans, the Standard Plan and the Explorer Plan. Both plans may offer protection for many of the same types of risks and can cover the costs associated with hospitalisation, repatriation, replacing lost baggage, as well as other unplanned for expenses.

However, the Explorer Plan offers a wider level of cover, with a greater range of benefits, and higher policy limits. For instance, you might wish to include cover for hiking or diving on your trip. Therefore, when choosing between the two plans, you would need to know the exact altitudes of your hiking trips and the depths of your planned dives.

As with many of the other activities that we cover, there are different levels of cover for hiking. For example, thinking rips to an altitude of 2,000 metres is classed as Level 1. Hikes to an altitude of 6,000 metres are listed as Level 3. While there is no cover under our policies for hiking expeditions that exceed an altitude of 6,000 metres.

Before choosing the right type of cover for your holiday, you need to research the details of any activities, sports, and tours you will be participating in, to make sure you make you have an adequate level of cover.

When deciding which policy is best suited to your adventures you might want to consider:

What kind of activities will I be doing on holiday?
What activities are my travel buddies planning?
What cover do the two different plans offer for these activities?
What exclusions might apply?

Note: It’s important you choose your policy carefully as you can’t upgrade from a Standard Plan to an Explorer Plan mid-trip.

A couple backpacking in the mountains. Photo credit: Getty images / Jordan Siemens

What’s not covered

Here are just a few examples of what is not covered under our plans. Please refer to your policy for the complete list.

Existing medical conditions: cover is usually not offered for existing medical conditions. Although, there's automatic cover for over 40 existing medical conditions when certain criteria are met. Please check your PDS for the full details.
If you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
If you do not use a professional qualified and licenced guide or operator where required.
Any search or rescue operations to find or rescue you from a life-threatening situation.
If you refuse to be repatriated or evacuated for further treatment on the reasonable recommendation of the 24/7 Emergency Assistance Team.
Damage to sporting equipment while in use.
Unattended baggage or personal items.
You are behaving in a reckless manner, or your actions are in breach of the local laws.
If you participate in any sport or engage in any activity on a professional basis during your overseas holiday.

Overseas adventure activity tips to help you have a safer experience

Here are some general tips for New Zealand travellers to keep in mind.

Be careful with valuables - wallets poking out of back pockets or unzipped handbags displaying the contents inside are irresistible attractions for pickpockets and muggers. Keep all valuable items safely concealed on your body, or securely locked away in your hotel room when you don’t require them.

Listen to local news updates - during your stay in any country, make sure you pay attention to local news broadcasts, including weather updates. If a violent storm is expected to blast the region in the coming days, then it’s probably wise to postpone any outdoor activities or adventures you had planned until a later date.

Only work with qualified and licensed instructors - if you are planning to participate in any activities that require an instructor, then you should investigate whether that instructor has received the right training. They must be qualified and licenced to lead hiking, diving, abseiling, or other types of tours and be registered with the governing association for their recreational activity.

There may be specific terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions that apply depending on what you'll be doing. Of course, always read the full terms, conditions limitations and exclusions in the plan you choose so there’ll be no surprises if you need to use it. If you are unsure of your level of travel cover, please contact us for help.

The information provided is of a general nature and is provided for information purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice in any form, and should not be relied on as a substitute for obtaining professional advice that is specific to your circumstances. You should seek advice from a financial advice provider if you would like further information about whether a particular product is appropriate for you and your circumstances.

World Nomads covers more than 150 activities and sports, and if it’s not on the list you can contact us and we’ll let you know if we’ll cover it.

You can read more about coverage for some specific activities, or select your Country Of Residence and click here to see the activities covered by the plans available to you.

We offer cover for:

24/7 Emergency Assistance
Overseas medical assistance
Cancellation
Baggage

Reconnect with the world with our travel insurance cover for some Coronavirus-related events

Itching to travel again?

Explore the world with our plans that provide cover for some Coronavirus-related (including COVID-19-related) events, including emergency overseas medical, evacuation, cancellation cover and more. Find out what cover applies to your Country of Residence, and the key benefit limits depending on which plan you purchase. Happy and safe travels!

Overseas medical expenses

If a qualified medical practitioner diagnoses you with Coronavirus while you’re travelling, we may offer emergency medical benefits to help you get back on your feet.

Standard plan:
$5,000,000 Single
$10,000,000 Couple/Duo/Family

Explorer plan:
Unlimited

Medical transport & repatriation home

If you become seriously sick or injured during your trip (and it's not considered an 'existing medical condition' as defined in the Policy Document) we may be able to help with cover for medical transport to the nearest or most appropriate medical facility, or back home to recover.

Standard plan:
$500,000 Single
$1,000,000 Couple/Duo/Family

Explorer plan:
Unlimited

Funeral expenses or repatriation of your remains

If the worst happens and you die from Coronavirus while overseas, we offer benefits to help your family with the costs of a funeral overseas, or if available, bringing you back to your home country.

Standard plan:
$25,000 Single
$50,000 Couple/Duo/Family

Explorer plan:
$25,000 Single
$50,000 Couple/Duo/Family

Coronavirus Travel Costs section (cancellation pre and on-trip)

Had to cancel your trip because you, a travel companion, or your close relative back home have been diagnosed with Coronavirus? Our cover may help with your cancellation costs.