Daniel58

Good morning Stu Thank you for your message, and examples. When I asked him about the fact that he was contradicting his own T&Cs by stating that insurance is now not necessary, he replied: We are in crazy times and all of us are in the same boat as none of us have repatriation insurance. I personally feel the risk of having an accident which requires repatriation is very small, especially in a school environment. I’m happy for the course to proceed without people having repatriation insurance but it depends upon your attitude to risk. So if you choose to come you can leave that section blank in the Ts and Cs. Our insurance is for 3rd party liability and Covid doesn’t affect this. If it’s any consolation, we’ve taught 3000+ students over 16 years and 1 person had to be repatriated in 2010 due to a broken leg. If I am honest, it felt as though he were questioning my 'cojones' rather than taking responsibility himself. I had also mentioned to him in the message that preceded his reply that my cousin was medically repatriated from Chamonix to Oxford due to a snowboarding injury (broken back). Remember, I had to push on the insurance aspect as he had been ignoring these questions and had not raised it through his own volition, as he should have done when the situation changed. It makes me worry about a gung-ho attitude which I have observed in other basic questions that I had asked him prior to the insurance situation. Sadly, I am aware that many years ago someone had died on one of his courses whilst abroad. I know that these things happen, but the whole 'one broken leg' thing is a bit misleading, IMO. I guess the point is; when I asked what options were being offered to us he did not say we can defer or get a refund, then again he says 'if you chose to come'. He just said that we can use our EHIC cards and 'crack on'. Hence, maybe I would be losing £2300, plus the opportunity itself. I want to do it, but I understandably want to have my mind as free of worry or concern as possible. The last thing I want to be thinking about are 'what ifs'. Last night I was all set, this morning I am pondering again

Hi Sean I am no stranger on the throwing caution to the wind front.. that is why I was trying to be sensible(ish) for once. I have been thinking about paramotoring for years, so I think I will just go and get on with it and hopefully look back in two weeks and be very glad! Thanks to both you and Mark

Hi Mark I have been oscillating all day! Yes, I think that you are right. I have been checking prospective policies and I am not sure that I would have gained so much from having an actual policy. The only thing that I really seem to be missing out on is the repatriation and the £10K for a missing limb.. Thanks very much for your input.

Hi all I’m due to undergo Paramotor training in mainland Europe, however I’ve discovered that the insurance for paramotoring will not be valid at all due to FCO advice not to travel to this particular country, due to Covid. The instructor has said that he intends to carry on regardless, in the full knowledge that all participants are uninsured and would not be able to be repatriated home in the event of an accident, amongst other other considerations. He said that we have our EHIC cards, though this just covers basic hospital treatment. I’ve paid a lot of money and there has been no offer of a refund (I had to push him to admit that we would not be insured), but I feel that this is a very blasé attitude for something so serious and for a beginner. I’d be interested to hear what people think about the situation and whether I should go or not. Thanks Dan