Ski Insurance

Ski and winter sports travel insurance is primarily designed to give cover for emergency medical situations, mountain rescue and repatriation for the policy holder. It is not designed to be a catch all healthcare insurance.

Most Travel Agents and Tour Operators will offer you ski insurance along with their ski holiday packages, but there are now many insurance companies that specialise only in ski and winter sports insurance and by comparison their cover will usually exceed that of the Travel Agent's. Probably the most popular method for obtaining ski travel insurance is by buying it online, as this is by far the easiest and quickest way and enables you to get various quotes without the pressure from sales staff.

It's quite likely that standard travel insurance will give some degree of cover for a skiing holiday, but you have to be aware that there could very well be strict conditions on when and what you can claim for. For example, on reading the insurance small print it may state that any loss through theft can only be reclaimed if the ski equipment was stolen while in use. In other words, if the opportunist thief took your ski equipment from the hotel's ski room then you would not be entitled to make a claim for it.

In light of this, buying insurance that is specifically designed for skiing, snowboarding and other winter sports is probably going to give you the optimum amount of insurance cover, and a better chance of having more lenient policy conditions too. In that respect, as good as it is, the ski insurance offered by Travel Agents just might not be enough to give you total peace of mind, or for that matter insure you for other activities you may like to engage in on your holiday.

Ski Insurance Tip 1

Remember, you are not obliged to buy ski insurance from the Travel Agent you purchase your ski holiday from, although some might not advertise this fact with too much enthusiasm. Ski insurance is a specialist area so do shop around and make sure you get the appropriate cover for other activities like snowboarding, heliskiing, off-piste skiing, dog-sledding and toboganning, if you intend doing them.

What Ski Insurance Does

Although skiing and snowboarding are seen as risky activities to engage in according to statistics the chance of being injured while skiing are in fact lower than that of angling, and even less when compared to Rugby. But, when there are injuries the majority of these are usually young skiers or snowboarders, and inexperienced skiers running into trouble on the piste.

A recent Swiss survey actually shows the injury rate for skiers is only about 1 in 100 and a little higher for snowboarders at 1 in 50, particularly because they tend to venture off-piste more. So, while these figures bring a more realistic sense to the risks involved there is still little room for complacency, and having some ski insurance for your holiday is still regarded as an essential item.

If you can imagine the costs involved evacuating an injured skier from the mountain by helicopter, or perhaps the expense in arranging repatriation for that skier by air ambulance, then the small outlay for specialist ski insurance could in effect save you thousands in both of these cases alone. And don't forget those expenses are not covered by the reciprocal healthcare arrangements (EHIC) that the UK entered into with other European countries. Furthermore, the majority of ski resorts only have private health facilities on offer, and these are definitely not covered by the EHIC.

What Ski Insurance Includes

The primary concern for the insurer is that of the person, so with a lot of ski insurance you may find things beyond medical, rescue and repatriation tend to take a back seat, so finding insurance that caters equally well for both you and your equipment will take a little searching for. On the whole skiers and snowboarders tend to travel with expensive equipment. They also take with them the usual holiday gadgets like mobile phones, digital camcorders and laptops. Be aware that a lot of ski insurance will not cover you for these these items and you will need to enhance your home contents insurance or take out a seperate insurance specially for them. On the other hand, digital cameras, money and jewelry are normally covered, but only if they remain in locked accommodation or never left unattended.

Most Important Benefits

Some ski insurance will come with the backup of 24 hour assistance where the policyholder will have access to round the clock support for emergency matters. In the event of injury this is a great asset to have, as it means you have one point of call who will promptly pay medical bills, doctors fees or assist in repatriation arrangements. Be aware, though, that ski insurance with this kind of support usually demands you notify the assistance company within 24 hours of any injury or hospitalisation, failing to do so can result in losing your right to claim.

You might find that some ski insurance automatically covers under 18's for free on their parent's policy, and for the family who take regular ski holidays this can reduce insurance costs quite considerably. This free addition to the parent's insurance may only cover children traveling with parents though, and any extra ski holidays - school trips being a prime example - may not be covered on the insurance.

What to Watch out for with Ski Insurance

The majority of ski insurance will cover you for loss of ski equipment from outside bars and restaurants, but it may be null and void if you fail to properly safeguard your equipment overnight. Saying that, most hotels in ski resorts do have secure ski rooms where you can safely store your equipment when not in use, so utilise this and every other method possible of deterring the would be thief. Doing so will certainly reduce the risk of losing your expensive ski equipment, but if the worst was to happen and things were stolen you would have at least played by the rules, and any claim on your insurance would not be argued with.

A point to remember is the common standard for most ski insurance is not new for old replacements, but a figure calculated from the age and current market value of the stolen items instead.

Ski Insurance Tip 2

When leaving skis unattended outside bars during breaks try exchanging one of your skis for a friends, this way thieves will be deterred from stealing a pair of mismatched skis that are practically worthless.

A lot of insurance companies now recognise off-piste skiing as an integral part of any ski holiday, and to some extent allow it. But do ensure the small print doesn't state this can only be done with a qualified guide, as some quite often do. If your insurance policy does cover you for off piste skiing without a guide this doesn't give you carte blanche to become reckless, as Skiing in avalanche zones and Out of Bounds areas will automatically innvalidate even the most specialist of ski insurance.

Snow conditions in ski resorts can vary and good snow cannot always be guaranteed. It's therefore possible that on some occasions skiing will be unavailable to you, so do check the insurance small print for any conditions on this. If the resort is near a glacier they might well pay for alternative arrangements for you to ski there, but if not you might just have to wait for mother nature to do her work. On this note, also read carefully whether you will be compensated for the inability to ski other than through snow conditions, as a lot will only allow poor snow as a contributing factor. There are, however, plenty of other reasons why you might not be able to ski, from a simple piste closure to your own personal injury or illness.

If you can claim for piste closures on your ski insurance then it's sensible to understand any conditions that may be attached. For example, it may state the piste has to remain closed for a certain number of days to warrant any compensation. There could also be other qualifying factors here too, such as was the piste closed due to industrial action or avalanche threat etc. Only by reading the small print carefully will you become fully aware of all exclusions in the insurance, and to avoid any future surprises we recommend that you do read these thoroughly.

Liability Cover

Liability cover is often included in ski insurance, but to what extent it can differ. In this claim culture world having adequate liability insurance is essential, and on the piste where you run the risk of injuring others it is even more so. Find out to what level of liability you are covered for, and if this seems inadequate you might be able to extend it for a small extra charge. Alternatively, shop around and find ski insurance that does include the level of liability cover that you feel confident with.

Ski Insurance Policy Excess

As with all insurance there will be a policy excess. This is the portion of the claim that you the policy holder will have to pay, the rest then being paid by the insurer. Depending on the type of insurance you have there could be different levels of excess for different types of claim within the same policy, but this is standard procedure and happens in many other types of insurance as well.

Ski Insurance Tip 3

If you have ever taken a ski or snowboard holiday to France then you may be aware of something called Carte Neige. As useful as this is it should never be seen as a replacement for ski insurance. In the event of injury it will speed up your transition from the piste to the doctor's surgery, but that's where the cover then ceases. Carte Neige is in effect only a top up for the things routinely not covered in private ski insurance, so it should never be seen as an entire insurance policy itself.

Ski Insurance Tip 4

If you plan on having more than one ski holiday during the season then you might find buying an annual insurance policy could work out a lot cheaper. It also eliminates the hassle of arranging insurance each time you go away.