 Poster: A snowHead
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@rungsp, they don't cover existing conditions though
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@rungsp, Thanks for this. Interesting that they changed underwriters. Lets hope it forces other companies to follow.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@holidayloverxx, we are lucky enough to not have any so for us that is not an issue....for some people that could obviously be a big deal though.
Depending on the condition it might be worth calling and asking for it...in the world of insurance there is usually a price for anything, but in travel insurance it might not be worth the hassle for the insurer.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@rungsp, its been debated on here before. Snowcard won't budget.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@holidayloverxx, you could try contacting the underwriter directly and asking for a bespoke policy...they can only say No, and they might just say Yes.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@rungsp, I just tried that for extending my holiday home insurance unoccupied no if days....no chance at any price.
Anyway I don't need snowcard but I used to use them
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I've had a quick look at Snowcard and indeed they appear to cover travel against FCDO advice as long as the advice relates only to covid.
However their general t&c also say, on p17, additional conditions 03: "You must follow any suggestions or recommendations made by any government or other authority both before and during the period of insurance".
I wonder if that gives them scope to wriggle out of a claim relating to travel from a tier 2 or tier 3 district in England to France ( or austria /switzerland/italy) for skiing purposes?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Annual insurance is up for renewal and reading the thread looks like very difficult to get insurance for travel against FCDO advice.
Not so concerned about cancellation due to COVID or even COVID treatment, what is important is cover for usual ski related injuries if advice is essential travel only. I also would like end supplier cover too. Any advice? If we can't get adequate insurance we won't entertain going but a new policy is required so might as well plan for the best even if the worst happens.
Would the carte neige (spelling?) bought with a ski pass provide the required level of cover in addition to an annual policy or is that just extraction from the hill?
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Look at Snowcard, they seem to cover most eventualities
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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A friend got cover from Virgin. CV19, worldwide, off piste, annual policy for £200 inc. his 2 18+ sons
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Snowcard do not appear to cover any eventualities at all, if the traveller isn't following all official 'suggestions or recommendations' . The UK gov advice is against all but essential travel.
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Also Columbus Direct which someone mentioned. Their general exclusion 20 rules everything out when the FCDO advises against all but essential travel.
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You know it makes sense.
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And similarly in the small print for Virgin travel insurance, paragraph 18 on page 20 of the policy wording: it excludes "any claim that results from you travelling to a country or an area where the FCO advice ..... is not to travel to this country or area".
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| peerless ploughman wrote: |
| Snowcard do not appear to cover any eventualities at all, if the traveller isn't following all official 'suggestions or recommendations' . The UK gov advice is against all but essential travel. |
That not quite how I read it ??
Snowcard
Outlined below are the most common scenarios illustrating how your policy covers you during the coronavirus pandemic. This cover only applies to policies purchased after 6 November 2020.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advice
If the FCDO do not advise aginst travel to the country you are visiting you will be covered for emergency medical expenses and cancellation cover as detailed below if you contract COVID-19.
If FCDO advice against travel is specifically in relation to the coronavirus pandemic and you are travelling within Europe you will be covered as detailed below if you travel against FCDO advice.
If the FCDO advise against travel to a destination for other reasons, for instance due to terrorism threat, we will not provide any cover.
Before you travel please check the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) website to get the most up to date information on travel guidance.
See link for rest https://www.snowcard.co.uk/content/coronavirus-covid-19-information
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Poster: A snowHead
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My view is that if it isn't crystal clear that you're covered, explicitly for what you want, then you're not. Remember that nowadays, many insurance policies are 'tailor made' from smaller building-blocks, based on the separate answers you give. The policy document as such doesn't even exist - it's a composite from a library of many clauses and conditions. So feeding back that you are covered by {X} insurer doesn't indicate another person will get the same cover, or any, unless their circumstances are the same.
Just saying, be careful - there's a lot of insurance 'covid wash' being pushed out that doesn't bear scrutiny.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| LaForet wrote: |
My view is that if it isn't crystal clear that you're covered, explicitly for what you want, then you're not. Remember that nowadays, many insurance policies are 'tailor made' from smaller building-blocks, based on the separate answers you give. The policy document as such doesn't even exist - it's a composite from a library of many clauses and conditions. So feeding back that you are covered by {X} insurer doesn't indicate another person will get the same cover, or any, unless their circumstances are the same.
Just saying, be careful - there's a lot of insurance 'covid wash' being pushed out that doesn't bear scrutiny. |
I guess the best thing is to phone the insurance company to confirm that it is covering you for what you want !!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@thunderer, My thoughts too. I've got a few calls to make tomorrow.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I know that there was some mention of Nationwide's Flex Plus travel insurance earlier in this thread but there were unanswered questions as to what cover it provides. It appears that the policy does provide cover for everything, except Covid related claims, to all countries besides those which have a FCO advisory against 'all travel'; off piste skiing with a guide and winter sports trips up to 31 days. This looks fine to me, so long as I travel out to France before the 31st December, which would ensure that my EHIC cover is valid for the duration of my trip. Am I missing anything?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Just received my notification of renewal, due Jan with Multitrip.com
As an existing customer, I have this offer:
"For trips booked under your current policy, we will continue to apply the terms and conditions that were in place at the time of booking, as long as there is no break in cover. "
I am booked on the Birthday bashes. The second week is covered as booked in Feb. 1st week as soon as buttons came up, but not until mid April, so may not be. Hopefully I won't need to find out.
My current policy expires on the day I am due to travel. I was going to stay with them anyway, as I would then not have a 3rd party involved in the event of a cancellation claim. Will be covered for any UK travel as well.
In the event that I have to cancel, then the claim will be on the existing policy. I can cancel the renewal if not happy with the new terms for future bookings. Probably won't be traveling abroad rest of year anyway.
Will have to check the small print for exact terms on any future bookings, but at £54, I think it is worth it to cover my current booking.
I will be keeping an eye on this thread. It may be that I will need an alternative with better Covid cover for the following year.
Hopefully, the vaccine may make the exclusion clauses irrelevant.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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NW FlexPlus seem to cover Covid in resort but not cancellation claims. But won't do off piste without a guide.
MPI seem to cover off piste well. But "MPI policies will not provide any cover for COVID-19 if the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are advising against all but essential travel to your destination due to the virus." Which is the current situation.
Both policies?? MPI for skiing, NW for Covid??
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@Colinstone NW FlexPlus only provides Covid 19 cover if the trip was booked before the FCO advised against travel to the country https://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/coronavirus/flexplus-cover-covid-19 European Breakdown Assistance cover is not affected. I think that the only way to get Covid cover (if you are over 55 and don't want to pay an exhorbitant premium) is to travel out before 31 December and rely on EHIC. I am hoping that this is sufficient.
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This is from the NWFP+ changes document Oct 20 for existing NWFP+ customer, but perhaps not a new account holder:
What this means during your trip
You’ll be covered for
Emergency medical costs abroad if you need
treatment for Covid-19 or another pandemic while
on your trip.
Unless
The FCDO are advising against all travel to your destination at the time of departure
All travel was in italics and is not the same as "all but essential travel". FCDO have 2 levels of travel advice.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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BMC Insurance now covers you in countries where you travel against "all but essential travel" FCDO advise, and also covers medical costs for COVID (but not cancellation due to COVID)
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@Colinstone. Thank you. My apologies, I had missed this Covid cover explanation, which is far clearer than on the page to which I referred. It is very good news.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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BMC won't do over 90 days for 65+. Snowcard seem only to be 62 days.
So looks like using Nationwide FlexPlus Travel Insurance for just the Travel and Medical aspects. And they are happy that there is no cover for wintersports. So a very modest extra £90 to extend to 99 days instead of the standard 31 day trip length. This will then be valid for any other up to 99 day trip I take in the rest of the policy year.
And MPI for just the skiing cover. Quite a lot at £500+. Or Ski Care with the Top4 Ski Pass is only CHF63 for the season but cover is limited. I assume Ski Care relies on other insurance such as EHIC. https://www.skicare.ch/en/our-products.html
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I’m going to try saga next year. My 84 yo dad fell on the first day of their one week Tenerife holiday and was in hospital for 2 weeks. They paid mums accommodation to stay there, his hospital bills, a Lear jet for them plus pilot, co-pilot (his wife apparently), and 2 x medical staff and private ambulance to their house. I had a dedicated handler who kept me updated all the way. I asked her what the claim was worth - £24,000 for the jet and £20,000 hospital fees!!
Incredible service. We never saw a bill either, as they dealt with it all direct.
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@bambionskiis, It's when you have to claim that you find out how good your insurance company is. Hope your dad is ok. We've had good claims experience and excellent claims handling from LV= and MPI. Their service has stopped me scavenging around the net to trying to get insurance a tenner cheaper. I'm just looking forward to the day when it makes sense to start an annual policy again.
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks timc. True indeed. Their policy cost them £700 for that week (they weren’t going to bother but I insisted thankfully!!). Sadly dad died a few months later so they never got the dream of their last holiday. They weren’t bankrupted either though, thanks to Saga.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I had cause to phone Nationwide FlexPlus Insurance to ask about a trip to Germany I need to make in late spring. It was made quite clear to me that from Jan 1 this year they will not cover any expenses relating to Covid19, no cancellation cover , no cover for any additional expenses incurred as a result of Covid19.
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Poster: A snowHead
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It’s similar with the bundled Natwest bank account travel insurance. I am in luck with health cover as my EHIC shows an expiry of 11/2024!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Be aware that any existing valid EHIC and the replacement GHIC do not provide the 'flow down' cover you used to get for Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein. Only for the EU27 countries.
Our 'European' renewal quote from LV= (with whom we got great service when my wife had an accident in CH this March) does provide full cover for the above countries plus Turkey and Egypt, with the price up about +15%. Which I think is reasonable, given the potential extra costs to them.
But as over-65s, we still can't get covid cover against FO advice - although this is notional in a way, as there's no way we'd travel until we've both received both inoculations - being in Group 5, I don't see that happening until June-July anyway.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 8-01-21 12:08; edited 1 time in total
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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My insurance company (direct-travel insurance) will not cover me at all for European travel
"Regrettably we can’t offer you a policy to a country against the FCDO advice due to a declared age of over 65"
Why the age limit isn't explained....?!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@allbob Us 65-70 types have lost out a bit here. Originally, the mantra from UK medical authorities was that the 'vulnerable' were all over-65s. You may have noticed however, that now, the top 4 Inoculation Groups are 70+ with most commentators saying "and then 65+ and so on ...".
So the insurers seem to be taking the original 65+ as indicating we're vulnerable, but the inoculation programme prioritises the over 70s (which is fair enough, as the Group 4 includes seriously vulnerable who have to shield). So we're going to get inoculated last and thus wait longest before insurance cover is available. My guess is it'll be August before we've had both inoculations plus the wait time for the 2nd to take full effect.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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My family annual travel insurance policy quote is 23% higher than I paid last year. It excludes cover for cancellations related to global pandemics. It does cover medical, hospitalisation, repatriation costs etc resulting from Covid 19 infection. I'm over 65, so that might be one reason for the increase. Overall though I'm satisfied with the cover and price, as I was expecting it to go up significantly.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@PeakyB, if you don't mind me asking, who is that with ? I'm in the 65-70 bracket and about to start looking for cover for myself
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@nickH, I've been with LV= for a few years. Only once had to claim but they were very fair. Mine includes a few extras to suit our circumstances but basically £130pa for family. I've no doubt there's a lot cheaper but I think they strike balance between cost, cover and reputation. New customers would probably get it cheaper. Happy to send details if you wanted, pm me.
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thanks @PeakyB, I'll give them a look and take you up on your kind offer if I've any questions. I'm not necessarily after the cheapest, just one that's reasonably reputable and covers my basic needs ( skiing!!!) 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@nickH, When we used LV= a couple of years ago they had a maximum of 31 days snowsports per year, if you had a multi-trip policy. We did manage to get them up to about 39 days but they would not go any higher.
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thats fine thanks @cad99uk, if I can do 3 weeks a year I'll be happy ( though I'd obviously prefer much more)
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