Great White wrote:Please allow me to give my 2 cents. I have been working for 25 years in the insurance industry in Switzerland, Cyprus, South Africa and now Lebanon and have dealt with major markets like Japan, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the UAE amongt others. I am currently Deputy General Manager of an important Reinsurance Broker in the Middle East.
What you require is a cover that is not given by any companies in Cyprus to my knowledge. Now, if some companies do you will have to be careful as, if the company is not a leader in the market (Minerva is not for instance), you might face difficulties when it comes to claims BECAUSE this is the type of risks a local company will not be able to cede into their reinsurance treaties. They therefore will pass on the risk to a reinsurer (a company insuring insurance companies) and only retain a very small share of the risk, leaving Reinsurers paying most of it. Of course, you will only deal with the insurance company but they are unlikely to pay you one cent in this particular type of covers unless they already have received payment from the reinsurers. The importance of having a well-known company is that they have access to reliable reinsurers.
If you are a UK citizen, your safest bet is to approach a company in the UK. The London market is not unfamiliar with that type of very exposed cover and has the flexibility to tailor-make a cover for you. Local companies are unlikely to do anything because they a) might not have the knowledge to deal with such covers and/or b) they will have problems finding reinsurance support. I therefore would suggest you contact someone in the UK.
As far as local companies go I think that Pancyprian and Atlantic offer very good services. Atlantic - through their now late Chairman - has built strong link to the UK communities in both Paphos and Agia Napa. Alpha Insurance in now linked to giant AXA and might be able to offer something through their connections at a worldwide level. This however might take some time as the takeover is only very recent.
Of course, the type of cover you require is rather standard. What makes it difficult to place is the type of sports you enjoy doing.
Cheers for the advice, sounds like you know what you are talking about. Unfortunately, the main problem is not so much the type of sports I enjoy doing, as being resident in Cyprus. The companies (that I know of) that specialise in this sort of cover require you to be actually resident in the country that the policy is taken out in. So, whilst I may have a UK passport, these UK based companies won't insure me because I reside in Cyprus.
Thanks again.
