The running of the bulls, cliff diving, and other risky, albeit classic, adventures travelers can participate in around the world prompted us to review some travel insurance policies to discover what might be covered and what definitely isn’t.
The running of the bulls isn’t an unlawful or illegal act, which are exclusions in all travel insurance policies, so that didn’t exclude resulting injuries from coverage. Intoxication is absolutely excluded, so if the insured is intoxicated, then resulting injuries would not be covered.
This year’s running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain resulted in several injuries – one Australian runner was gored in the leg – and as far as an insurance definition, that falls under ‘bodily injury’. In reviewing several policies to discover whether this type of injury would be covered or not, we found these definitions:
In the Worldwide Trip Protector Gold plan from Travel Insured:
“Bodily Injury” means identifiable physical injury which: (a) is caused by an Accident, and (b) solely and independently of any other cause, … â€
Under the general exclusions in the Travel Guard Gold plan, we found:
“This plan does not cover any loss caused by or resulting from: (a) intentionally self-inflicted Injury …â€
In short, risky behaviors that the insured intentionally participates in are not likely to be covered expenses, which makes sense when you think about it. A homeowner’s insurance plan doesn’t provide payout when a person intentionally sets their house on fire, so why would a travel insurance company be expected to cover a person who intentionally participates in activities that are known to be dangerous?
