The annual multi trip ski insurance hunt!

A snowHead

Its that time of year again to hunt around for ski insurance quotes - I swear its getting more difficult as each year passes and again this year large price increases.
Found one this year, at a sensible price, checked out the small print - off piste without a guide included, good, BUT then see that only a maximum of 10 days winter sports cover in any one year.
Checked out another to find, off piste only with a guide and a maximum of 22 days cover in any year.

Just off to check the ski clubs offering ...

A snowHead

@boredsurfin, possibly more helpful if you made it clear that it was the "annual annual ski insurance hunt"

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Yes, under a new name, true. BUT I have just and with Fogg its substantially cheaper to buy 3 separate winter sport holidays than buy an annual multi trip!

Beginning to think carte neige or is it carre neige may be the way forward...

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Carré Neige is the insurance sold by-the-day with the lift pass.
Carte Neige is the annual cover.

Although they sound similar and have similar (not the same) cover they are, I believe, offered by completely different companies.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

admin, Have you given up on developing snowHeads Insurance?

You'll need to Register first of course.

NB. This is not a real live insurance product!

I did my bit, mobilizing the moderators and supermegas to get the feedback and doing the research and then none of the recommendations and suggestions (or even the grammar and spelling corrections) ever made it into the policy.
It proved to be an exercise in just faffing round in circles!

And that was actually the best of a few attempts!

Shame, as I rather liked the logo Confused

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@admin, LOL!

After all it is free

@boredsurfin, We had Carte Neige last year and tried to make a claim for medical bills (Mrs skichampcouk fractured her arm in January) but she still has not had anything back from them.
The last email she received was from the insurers telling her they had never received a claim from her although further down the same email were all the details of the original claim.
We'll be looking elsewhere this season.

@skichampcouk, you do need to make the claim according to their rules, i.e. within 5? 7? days, etc. I claimed in January and they paid up, no problems. Even for my unused ski pass, for which I had no receipt (but I did have the pass, dated).

Actually, I think the first deadline was to notify them of an impending claim, which I think we did by email with a confirmatory phone call a day later, or when the office re-opened after the hols.

The initial email sent with receipt and read confirmations of course.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@under a new name, She did notify them of an impending claim within the timescales and sent in all the bills when her phsyio treatment had finished at the end of the season in April.
She's not really been pushing them and they are still communicating but it all seems to be happening very slowly.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Coverwise were reasonable last year and cover off-piste with or without a guide. On the annual multi trip policy they allow 17 days per trip.

snow reports

I think the biggest issue with Carte Neige is the lack of repatriation services. Getting home from a resort with a major injury could be very expensive, a head injury needing private air ambulance for repatriation after acute care and with anticipated and long term care needs would be a good example. After years in the insurance industry I cant stress strongly enough to contributors to this and other forums how important really good cover is. Some annual policies will even cover UK based holidays ie if you have to cancel due to illhealth etc. Age and pre-existing conditions are significant cost factors. My husband and I have had the top level SCGB cover for many years and while it is now expensive due to our age and pre-existing conditions it gives us year round comfort. We've never made a claim but for me its a case of "never say never".

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

You said above that there were some other benefits such a repatriation but are you sure that this would be so if extended hospitalisation were required before transfer to the UK maybe some months later. I have skied long historically with Carte Neige cover but I have concerns about it being as comprehensive as UK based insurance products for which we have recourse to the Insurance Ombudsman if things are not going well with a claim. Then again I have seen every type of genuine, fraudulent and questionable claim in my former life in the insurance industry. What I can say is that we in the UK have significant safeguards to ensure that we get what we are entitled to under our policies provided that we are open, transparent and honest in our claims. I know it can be a struggle sometimes and with some providers but most people get what they think they are genuinely due. I expect lots of you would like to speak of the claims you have submitted which have been declined or reduced but good providers are not too hard to find and genuine claims are generally met as per the terms of policies. I know where I sit with obtaining cover which suits my needs and I dont think this is something any of us should consider cutting costs over. Incidentally travel insurance is a very very tight market and contrary to what many people may think there is not a huge profit in it. To answer the question about repatriation as a big issue I think my reply is that Carte Neige may well look after immediate needs and certainly seem to work well for such issues as on mountain rescue but longer term and major incidents bring about their own requirements.

A snowHead

We us MPI brokers for our annual multi-trip insurance. I haven't made a claim but called them with a couple of issues last year, and they sorted them very quickly. Our policy expires in the middle of our January trip, and I asked if I needed to extend the policy because we were there longer than their usual 17 day trip length. They told me I didn't, and checked it thoroughly with the underwriters first.

A snowHead

@FFIRMIN, Thanks for that.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@boredsurfin, I'm with InsureandGo, and have been for quite a few years. Gold cover, Annual Worldwide Multi-Trip, Max 24 days of winter sports in any one year (that is actual skiing days), off piste (without a guide), and very good other terms — including supplier insolvency.

All for £79.06 pa (which includes a discount for being a long-term customer). Including options: Baggage & Money; Excess Waiver; Winter Sports; Travel Disruption. I am 54 year old male. I had to make a claim once (broken ribs in Meribel, my fault Blush

) and there was no problems.

If you need more than 24 days, then just contact them and they will give you a quote for that; I doubt it would be much.

I've looked around, but never been able to find anything cheaper, and often, other quotes were a lot more.

Good luck!

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@PeDaSp, I was with Virgin/Insureand Go until recently and it was good value like you say. But when the renewal came around I noticed that personal liability cover has been removed from downhill skiing, along with personal accident cover, and the medical cover excess increased to £250. Maybe worth you thinking about whether you are comfortable with that. I'm looking at alternative providers as suggested by other snowheads.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

What I should have said is that of course the Carte Neige is good when in resort as it is immediately recognised and assists early evacuation from the mountain without issues etc. but of course, a point I missed, was that this question was about annual multi trip cover which therefore covers cancellation and usually not only for the idividual concerned but also often for their immediate family/travelling companions in the unfortunate event of necessary withdrawal from a holiday for a reason covered by the policy.
Personally we need cover for off piste/heli skiing as well as cover for all our holidays during the year and with increasing age and a pre-existing medical condition this is never going to be cheap but hey no decent holiday is cheap in any event so we just factor in the cost along with the cost of kennels for the dogs!! The main thing is to read the policy carefully each year and make sure that it still covers everything you need and want, as noted in this thread the insurers do have a nasty habit of changing the risk profile by amending terms from time to time.

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@andy1234, Many thanks for that tip. I took a close read of the InsureandGo GOLD policy booklet, and did a PDF search of it using "liability" and "skiing" etc.

1. For some "extreme" winter sports, you are not insured at all: "Ski flying, ski jumping or ski mountaineering".

2. For some other winter sports, you are covered (including personal liability & accident), but there is a medical excess of £250. e.g.: "downhill skiing", "ski bob racing".

3. But for regular winter sports, you are fully covered (including personal liability & accident), e.g.: "skiing", "cross country skiing", "off piste skiing/snowboarding (except in areas considered to be unsafe by resort management)" etc.

So in this context, "downhill skiing" refers to the competitive racing sport; and even then, you are still covered for personal liability & accident.

But this restriction below is interesting, and I have seen this on all travel and/or winter sport insurance:

Search and rescue costs — are not covered:

Costs that are charged to you by a government, regulated authority or private organisation connected with finding and rescuing an individual. This does not include the costs of medical evacuation (by the most appropriate transport) from a medical emergency which is covered under section B (Medical and other expenses).

So if you have an accident, and they have to helicopter you off the mountain, you are covered. But, if you got lost on the mountain in the evening, and they spent all night searching for you etc., then you (may) not be covered for those costs.

This is a grey area, and you may be re-charged for at least part of the cost, depending on the country. But for that to happen, it seems that you would have been deemed to be acting "irresponsibly" etc. e.g.: off piste when the warning level is 3.

http://www.eccbelgie.be/images/downloads/03%20-%20Costs%20rescue%20operations%20in%20Europe.pdf

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Articles/Search-And-Rescue-Costs

http://www.chamonet.com/ski-insurance

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I am using MPI at the moment because of their openness about insuring off piste without a guide. Price is pretty good too.

I am really only interested in medical cover. I can self insure the rest if necessary.

After all it is free

Does anyone use scgb? Do they cover long trips and off piste?

Have to eat my earlier words. Have checked the new SCGB cover and find the policy wording very difficult to decipher and I dont like some of the conditions so it seems I shall be looking elsewhere for the next year. Such a shame after 20 years of loyalty to the Club and its insurers but I suppose we must all tolerate change at times! MPI seems to be highly recommended, will be checking it out.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@FFIRMIN, MPI & SCGB were just so expensive when I got quotes. More than twice what InsureandGo are charging me, and no material difference as to what's covered etc.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

The policy "free" (sic) with my bank account allowed me to extend trip length to 60 days on payment of a supplement. No off piste without a guide though. Also includes European wide breakdown cover.

snow reports

Even with MPI my Christmas 23 day trip falls foul of the small print

I always get annual insurance with the BMC (British Mountaineering Council); not the cheapest but I'm happy to pay for insurance that I know will work when I need it rather than skimp on a policy that may well prove to be inadequate.

You know it makes sense.

@jbob, SCGB certainly did cover off piste without a guide, but they have just changed they company the used for insurance, so you would have to check.

I have just received my renewal, and it does not bode well that the introduction letter news terms , do not match the quotation. For example my DoB is recorded as the date the policy was taken out rolling eyes

I used them for 3 years as they were massively cheaper than anyone else I found for multi-trip worldwide cover with Heli-skiing.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

PowderAdict - us too, we used SCGB insurance for many years, it wasnt cheap but we had multi trip annual policies which covered heli-skiing and I was comfortable with the policy wordings and cover for all the activities we do or may wish to do and even turning 65 didnt seem to be problem even with a medical issue. Very sad that they have changed insurers probably to enable them to attract new members with this rather bizarre inexpensive add on to subs to include single trip insurance and at the same time they are disadvantaging their long standing and loyal members with an insurance offering which i not as good as what they offered before.

A snowHead

@PeDaSp, We bought Ins.& Go - or Insure and Stay at Home as we now call them - last year. Yes, they are cheaper, but you just try making a claim! I do not have the time or inclination to go into the details but it took us over 6 months to get one claim settled, when they realised that we were not going to go away and were going to the Ombudsman; who had found in the claimant's favour in similar cases. They then totally ignored another two claims for two months, which were occasioned by sudden illness, and when we complained, asked for the claim nos. which had not been issued! They then persist in asking for information not requested with the claim form, eg proof of payment for the holidays, despite having already received the cancellation invoices - and for the first claim the fact that we were on the holiday!
NEVER buy their policies Evil or Very Mad

A snowHead

Oh, BTW, last claim was over 10 years ago on SCGB - got me off the mountain, hospital , op, home with 3 seats to a different airport plus long taxi ride home - no problems at all. Even now they seem to say you need the Fogg Medicare to get you off the mountain - what's that about?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@PeDaSp, I would check the current terms and conditions for the gold policy. Section R6 defines winter sports and is very confusing:

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So a policy primarily devised for snowsports puts additional conditions/exclusions onto "downhill skiing"!! Bizarre to say the least and concerning if personal liability does not apply to downhill skiing. Is this the SCGB policy wording?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@FFIRMIN, no- Ins & Stay at Home !

You'll need to Register first of course.

Our MPI premium has doubled this year. No change in circumstances, same age band, no medical issues, same cover. Checked with MPI who confirmed that website producing right number although still in discussion with them.

... and they have not been sending out reminders. Will probably go elsewhere.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@cad99uk, thanks for the heads up about the price rises. I will be keeping an eye on it.

After all it is free

@Hells Bells, It would be interesting if you used the website to get a quote to see how it matched with what you are currently paying.

@cad99uk, I do that with my insurance every year, then phone them up and tell them I'm cancelling the renewal because it's not fair to treat existing clients in this way, and lo and behold a few days later I get a revised quote through!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@CaravanSkier, It is not the case that new customers are getting a better rate. The quote from the website (whether I was a new or old customer) is double. MPI confirm that web engine is producing correct number.
They have not been sending out renewals so the only way to get a quote is to go online.

Help!!

The annual multi trip ski insurance hunt!

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