Cycling BC insurance ready for export to other provinces

In summer 2012, Steve collided with a bus while riding in a mass-start event in Europe. “I pulled myself to the side. I didn’t know how hurt I was until I tried to get up. It looked like I was crossing my legs, but my knee wasn’t bent. My right leg was crossed to the left halfway through my femur,” he said.

Moments before the accident, he was trying catch on with a group of friends because he had lost some time. He didn’t realize that because it was later in the day, there would be traffic along the route. As he headed downhill into a tunnel, he was in the left lane to take the fastest line. He saw the bus and made a split second decision to hit it in the middle, hoping it wouldn’t be as bad as hitting it head on. He also wanted to keep from getting run over by the back wheels. The last speed his bike computer registered was 63 km/h, which was after some braking.

He was taken to hospital and had surgery. It was weeks before he made it home to Vancouver. He had credit card insurance coverage, a plan from his work and provincial health care. He thought all his medical needs, including rehab, were covered. They weren’t. When his credit card company learned he was doing a timed event, that made him ineligible for coverage. Steve was lucky following his accident in Europe. He later found coverage through another source. (He’s riding again, too.) But an insurance plan that understood his sport and his needs would have saved him a lot of worry.

Corey Tracey, sponsorship and business development manager at Cycling BC, is familiar with Steve’s story. Tracey has also come across insurance exceptions while riding abroad. “You have to be extremely careful with any supplementary insurance when you participate in a competitive event. If there’s a purse attached, insurers may classify you as a professional if you hurt yourself and need coverage, so that they can deny the claim. Or they may classify the sport as an extreme sport,” he said.

Because Tracey has seen Cycling BC members struggle with various exclusions and their misconceptions about coverage, he and the provincial cycling organization came up with an insurance plan that would cover members. The new plan, that was released this past October, provides riders with personal accident insurance specifically for cyclists. “If a rider gets hit by a car, gets teeth knocked out, has to take a couple of days off work or needs physiotherapy, there’s some coverage,” Tracey said. The plan is also meant to take the hassle out of following up on these claims. Car insurance can cover you in an accident, but the process can be difficult and long.

With Marsh Canada Ltd., Cycling BC has created three plans that Cycling BC members can buy. For $50 a year, a member can get $50,000 worth of coverage; for $75, $100,000; and for $100, $150,000. “It makes sense, when you are on a bike, to have something that protects you that’s not full of loopholes. It’s yours and it’s there for you,” Tracey said. It covers you all over the world. You can even ride in gran fondos. If you turn pro, however, you’ll have to get a new plan.

At the moment, the Cycling BC insurance is only available to its members. But Tracey says it can be available to others in Canada if their provincial organizations are interested. He’s ready to export. “We really want other provincial organizations to get on board with coverage like this, not just because it’s good for us as cyclists, but because, long-term, the more people purchase, better protection will be offered at a lower rate,” he said.