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Travel insurance for paragliding and parasailing

Planning to paraglide on your travels? Find travel insurance that covers you in flying colours.

Key takeaways

  • Paragliding and parasailing can be covered by travel insurance, under certain conditions.
  • Insurers have some pretty specific rules around how adventure sports are covered.
  • You'll probably need a more comprehensive policy, and you'll definitely need to read the small print.

Will travel insurance cover paragliding or parasailing?

Yep, you can get travel insurance that will cover claims related to paragliding or parasailing. However, you'll need to check the details. Paragliding and parasailing are risky activities, and are considered extreme sports, so they'll need a comprehensive policy. The extra cost you pay will account for the extra risk you're taking.

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What's the best travel insurance for paragliding or parasailing?

There's no single best travel insurance for extreme sports like paragliding. Instead, you're best to compare travel insurance policies in general, and then adding adventure sports to your cover when you sign up.

You can use Finder to compare travel insurance quotes from 16 brands – that’s more than any other site in Australia.

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How do I make sure I'm covered?

If your policy says it covers extreme sports like paragliding, it’s important to check if there are any conditions that affect when cover will apply. Conditions may include:

  • You must be a passenger. You may need to be paragliding in tandem with a licensed instructor and be a passenger rather than in control of the aircraft.
  • A licensed operator is required. The paragliding equipment and service generally needs to be provided by a licensed commercial operator.
  • You may need to buy an extra sports option. You may need to take certain steps when taking out your policy, such as applying for cover over the phone or purchasing a special adventure sports pack.
  • Understand what your policy covers. There is a difference between paragliding and parasailing. Some travel insurance brands may only cover parasailing.

It's not enough to just get a policy that's advertised as an 'extreme sports' package or similar. You really do need to check the details of the policy.

If you’re thinking of paragliding or parasailing while on holiday, be aware that travel insurers apply different definitions of what constitutes paragliding and what constitutes parasailing. Check with your insurer to confirm whether you will be covered before you participate in either sport.

When won’t you be covered?

There are certain situations when you won’t be able to receive any cover from your travel insurer for paragliding or parasailing. Some of these are specific to the sport itself, including:

  • You may not be covered if you don’t satisfy all policy conditions, such as flying in tandem with a licensed instructor when you paraglide.
  • You may not be covered unless you specifically arrange for the sport to be covered when arranging your policy.
  • You may not be covered for personal liability while paragliding.
  • You may not be covered if you operate the equipment yourself, instead of having a professional operate for you.

In other cases, you may not be covered for paragliding-related claims under some of the general exclusions of your policy, such as:

  • If the insurer excludes paragliding from cover altogether.
  • If your claim arises because you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Make sure you read the fine print of your policy to work out when you will and will not be covered.

Does travel insurance cover hang gliding?

Hang gliding is generally not able to be covered by travel insurance. While simiar to paragliding in some ways, the design of hang gliders make them harder to control than paragliders. That makes them inherently more dangerous.

How much does travel insurance cost for paragliding?

You will pay more for a travel insurance policy that covers extreme sports. This is because you're putting yourself at higher risk, so the odds of you making a claim are higher.

How much extra you'll pay depends on your insurer's add-on options. For example, Fast Cover offers an adventure pack that costs about 30% on top of the cost of most policies. This adventure pack covers lots of sports including tandem paragliding, but not other sports like snowboarding, which requires a more expensive policy again.

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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Tim Bennett as part of our fact-checking process.
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Publisher

Jessica Prasida is a travel insurance expert for Finder. She lives and breathes travel, having worked as a travel agent and branch manager at STA Travel for over 4 years, then writing about travel insurance with Finder for another 5 years. Jess has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney and a Tier 1 General Insurance qualification. See full bio

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