BVI Insurance Requirements?

A group of four of us will be arriving the BVI's next month for a 11 day sailing charter. We are all vaccinated and understand what is needed as far as testing and proof of Vaccinations. What seems to be vague is the insurance requirements. Has anyone found what the minimum amounts is for each of the requirement?

This is what the UK.gov website says: "show proof of travel insurance with minimum approved coverage for quarantine accommodation costs, medical repatriation and COVID-19 medical costs, including hospitalisation, doctor’s visits and prescriptions".

Also, the UK.gov website has a link to several Insurance providers and I called a couple of them but they could not tell me either.

What insurance have others used for just the Covid coverage?

thanks for any help or info on this.

Craig

CraigB - in the end I decided to pony up and pay insurance with one of the insurance companies on the bvi website despite being pretty sure that I was covered. This is the BVI link. Some visitors from the USA have successfully used their local insurance.

Have you presented it to the officials in the BVI's? What kind of a process was that if you've gone through it?

I've got 3 quotes from the BVI website and most are pretty much the same.

thanks,

Craig

We are also heading down next month and using Dolphin Water Taxi for transport from STT to Tortola. I've been asking them all the testing questions etc. Here was the answer they gave me on 10/3 regarding proof of health insurance:

"No, you do not need "extra" insurance. just your own coverage for Intl travel. I would not worry about having to show anything from here on out. They just want you to have it."

In January we just used our Blue Cross/Shield medical insurance and had a letter that said we were covered internationally. When we go in November (with 2 rounds of guests) we bought the Allianz insurance. For our almost 3 weeks there it only cost us $56 for the both of us. It was $86 for all 3 adult kids for 10 days. I decided to buy the insurance this time because our first 10 days are with friends who will then leave and our last 10 days are with our adult kids who will arrive halfway through. With that many people, I decided I'd rather be safe than sorry just in case someone tested positive and had to quarantine.

How did you get it so cheap? What did you cover yourself for and at what amount?
Thanks!

Since most airlines are allowing you to reschedule/change a flight I didn't put in the cost of our flight in the total cost of the trip. Also, we are using owners' time on the boat so it is significantly less expensive as well. If you are getting it just to show proof of insurance and to have the medical and Covid quarantine coverage you can give them a lower "trip" price which gets you a lower cost on insurance. I didn't need the trip reimbursement on flights or the boat so my trip was "cheap."

I submitted the proof of insurance along with the rest of the documentation and it was accepted without a comment.

Just got here and insurance was not mentioned..

Malcolm, that was my guess. It's tough enough to teach them to take and process Covid tests. Can't imagine training a bunch of high school graduates to evaluate insurance policies. Unless and until there's a problem, it won't be a focus.

I was wondering, who is administering the rapid COVID test you take on arrival? Do they have a nurse administering all these COVID tests or is it a customs officer? Frankly (or thankfully) I’ve never had a COVID test and I’m a little worried about how uncomfortable it’s is and who’s sticking that swab up my nose.

The rapid test they are giving to vaccinated travelers was very simple. It's not a deep swab at all. I had a slight urge to sneeze but that was the worst side effect.

It is certainly not the customs or immigration staff. The testing center is staffed by the Health Services Administration and I believe they are nurses but could have a different health education/designation. All very clean and professionally executed.

In June, the testing center at Peebles was staffed by Cuban doctors and it was a really deep swab, as was the airport PCR swab. The swabs we've had Stateside were not nearly as painful as those in the BVI, which were heavily criticized on line. The health department was advertising for high school graduates to administer the new quick tests at the entry points. This test is supposed to be less invasive.

Just curious as to what COVID test you used to get in (your 5 day out test).

This test at immigration as the gentlest I have had..and I have had about 8! No sweat..

Thank you…that will work for us also….as the Villa we stay in would accommodate a change, if necessary, I am sure…