Trek Guide

How to claim on your Nepal travel insurance after a rescue, and the one call that decides it

Call the insurer 24-hour line before the helicopter flies, then collect an itemised invoice, an English diagnosis and every receipt.

By Bishnu Adhikari · Aug 31, 2026

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If something has gone wrong on a Nepal trek, do this in order. Call your insurer's 24-hour emergency number before the helicopter lifts , because most policies pay for an evacuation only if they authorised it. Then, before you leave Nepal, collect four…

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What to do in the first hour

Get the patient down, then get the call made. Descent treats altitude illness and no phone call does, so nothing here outranks losing height. But the moment the situation is stable enough to use a phone or a satellite device, someone needs to ring the…

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The two models, and which one you are on

Find out which of these your policy is before you leave home, because they behave completely differently on the ground. Two corrections to things people repeat about this. First, the BMC model is not a no-phone-call model. Its wording requires you to contact…

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The documents a Kathmandu clinic or hospital must give you

Ask for these at the desk before you are discharged, in writing and in English. Nepali hospitals will produce all of it, but usually only if you ask, and chasing paperwork from Australia or the UK six weeks later is where claims die. Insurers' own checklists…

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The filing window is shorter than you think, and it varies wildly

There is no industry standard, and the clock does not always start when you get home. These are the published windows from four wordings we checked in August 2026. Look at the first two rows together. Sixty days from the incident can expire while a seriously…

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What actually gets a Nepal claim refused

Five things, and four of them are decided before you ever leave home. An undeclared medical condition. The most common refusal of all. True Traveller warns that "failure to declare any medical conditions could leave you with no right to make a claim"; the BMC…

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Why your paperwork is being read harder in 2026

Because of a live court case, and it is fair that you know the shape of it. Nepal's Central Investigation Bureau laid charges against 32 people on 12 March 2026 over an alleged fake-rescue scheme, and the case was filed at the Kathmandu District Court on 23…

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The bottom line

Make the call, keep the itemised invoice, photograph it in Kathmandu, and diarise the filing deadline the day the incident happens. Those four habits cover the overwhelming majority of Nepal claims that go wrong. And the unprofitable part: the cheapest claim…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Keep reading

The altitude ceilings, the rescue benefit and what voids a policy. What it costs, who calls it, and how the flight actually happens. Why the specialist insurers will not sell to you, and what will. The altitude cap that quietly voids an EBC policy. Dealing…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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