 Poster: A snowHead
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I have Winter Sports insurance as part of my house contents/buildings policy but a through review of the terms and conditions shows it to be rather lacking in a couple of areas
i) It does not have off piste cover unless with a guide. I'm not into serious off piste but like visiting the choppier/bumpier areas just off or connecting pistes so expect this would not be covered.
ii) The theft/breakage excess on equipment is ridiculous. For this I would prefer zero excess if possible. Normally I take my own skis and since they are now 10 years old, I would take it on the chin if it happened and use it as a good excuse to upgrade but for hire skis it would annoy the hell out of me paying the excess and getting nothing to show for it.
So does anyone have any good recommendations? I have used MPI in the past because of their clear off piste policy but to get cover including the hire skis seems a little expensive at £53.68 and rather inadequate. For example it only seems to cover £250 for rental equipment which sounds inadequate for top of the ranges skis
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I use http://www.atlasdirect.co.uk/main.asp not sure about the off piste cover as I never venture off. Not sure if there are many companies that will but I am probably wrong. Atlas direct are mucho cheap for all the benefits.
I used to use http://www.direct-travel.co.uk/ but was put onto Atlas by a friend and they are much cheaper with same cover, good luck.
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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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| Posidrive wrote: |
| I'm not into serious off piste but like visiting the choppier/bumpier areas just off or connecting pistes so expect this would not be covered. |
MPI insurance wording
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OFF PISTE SKIING/SNOWBOARDING
Many policies either exclude this or limit skiing ‘off piste’ to be with a guide. It is our view that this is impractical as one can ski ‘off piste’ unwittingly and in certain circumstances it is possible to ski on a ‘pisted’ run which is designated ‘off piste’. It is due to this type of confusion that we at MPI Brokers have negotiated with underwriters that there is no such exclusion or limitation in this policy. There is, however, a general requirement, common to all insurance, to behave in a reasonable and sensible manner. |
I've gone for it.
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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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We went for MPI too, after reading all the small print to find out if it was adequate insurance for son's season, because that is who Inghams etc use. Decided it was, and thought the off piste wording was brilliant. The price for an annual family policy was also very good. The guy who runs the company is a skiing enthusiast.
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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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achilles, I had a long email exchange with MPI boss last winter about the off-piste wording. I was satisfied with his answers.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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karin, I worked for Esprit so also insured through MPI and suffered a nasty accident (fractured vertebra) while skiing slightly off piste. I can confirm that MPI performed extremely well, they got an assistance company involved straight away and made everything as smooth as possible, including a private plane home 
It was as close to hassle free as you could want in that situation - I was expecting it to be much worse.
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bobmcstuff, good to know.
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MPI policy appears really good for the off-piste stuff. Main concern is the rental equipment insurance. If you are unlucky enough to have rental skis stolen do you pay the retail prices of the skis or what the supplier actually paid for them. If hiring £500 RRP skis then £200 cover just isn't good enough.
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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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Lost a rental ski in the powder last year in france and had to pay retail prices for the pair. Cost 600 euro and the insurance company covered their maximum payout of £250. lesson learnt the hard way.
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I have been digging around and SportsCoverDirect appear to cover up to £600 with their Gold policy but the excess would in theory be pretty high at £150. They also cover off-piste without a guide and seems pretty cheap at £33. Anyone have experience of dealing with them?
One area that seems subject to a little too much open to interpretation is the description of what they cover for the hire equipment in which they state:
We will pay you up to the sum insured shown in the Schedule of Benefits Table following loss of or damage to specialist sports equipment the property of or hired to you during the trip. We shall pay either:
1. the cost of hiring replacement equipment; or 2. the intrinsic value of the lost or damaged equipment; or 3. the cost of repair, whichever is the less.
I have a suspicion that this could be interpreted that if the skis are stolen they will expect you to pay for the lost skis and then only reimburse you for the cost of hiring another set?
Or am I just too suspicious?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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For about €1-€2 a day you can usually fully insure the hire skis at the hire shop - problem solved for about 10 quid.
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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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