 Poster: A snowHead
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My wife and and I have a years general travel insurance with covercloud. I can add winter sports to it if I wish, but it is not a specialist winter sports company. I am going on the MyashBash in January. People have mentioned on other threads to make sure I have "good" insurance. Preferably one that pays medical bills up front and not one that you have to claim back the money.
My question is, which insurance companies do the die hard snowheads recommend? I only need cover for one trip as I can't afford two skiing holidays next year. (Saving to go to Disneyworld Florida for two weeks over Xmas in 2018).
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Awdbugga, very much depends on pre-existing conditions. I always swore by Snowcard as you can exclude baggage and cancellation cover (it's on your general travel insurance) but they have got a bit difficult in the last year. worth calling them
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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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Common ones for ski specific annual cover include DogTag, Snocard and SkiClubGB. If your only doing the one trip though just adding ski cover to your existing one might work out better. Or do a comparision check to just take out a weeks cover seperateto your existing one. Compare the excess amounts as well as whether you have to pay up front as the cheap policies often have high excess.
Why are you going to Disneyworld at xmas?... there's no skiing there. 
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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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| adithorp wrote: |
| Why are you going to Disneyworld at xmas?... there's no skiing there. |
One of my mates is going to Indonesia at New Year, a complete lack of planning imo!
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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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To be honest a wintersports add on to a normal policy will likely suffice for a single week's holiday for an on piste skier. Just make sure you read the small print and understand the process as most clinics in ski resorts tend to be private and therefore outside EHIC and your insurer may have rules on using EHIC first. Worth having their helpline on speeddial and being able to call before you are scooped up off the slopes if you want to ensure they get set up for direct billing. For serious life threatening stuff you'll probable be airlifted direct to a state facility.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Some people use MPI (as I have - and they paid medical bills for me too), but may not be the best for 1 week, depending on what you intend to do (they cover off piste, for instance); do seem pretty OK with preexisting conditions.
However, if you don't have expensive equipment and just want basic cover with emphasis on good medical/accident cover, then I'd just search in
Money supermarket, for instance - but read small prints etc to check they suit and give the cover and amounts you need.
But what's wrong with your existing policy if you can get a week's winter sports add on? Probably for a week, assuming you're not aiming for anything more than on-piste skiing, it should be sufficient, I'd have thought.
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Also, Lloyds Bank Gold account now includes winter sports (off piste with a guide)
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| Also, Lloyds Bank Gold account now includes winter sports (off piste with a guide) |
My son was helicoptered off the mountain in Ischgl on Boxing Day this year. With the hospital treatment, CT scans, MRI scans etc it was about £5k all in. I have Lloyds Premier Banking with the Insurance managed by Axa. They take their time to pay the helicopter company, hospital etc but were absolutely superb and I would highly recommend. Dealt with everything directly once I had submitted all the claim details, bills etc and you can pay £10 per annum for your whole family to reduce the excess to zero.
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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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@Awdbugga,
Lots of threads on here concerning insurance, we had a good experience with the support that LV= gave when my wife had an accident, details are on this thread
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=125537
The only items that I paid by credit card was the Les Gets medical centre and the ambulance transfer, everything else was paid by LV=/CEGA direct.
The only reason I now insure with MPI rather than LV= is that LV= is limited to 31 days winter sports p.a.
When you are choosing ski insurance read the small print and concentrate on the big liabilities that you need to be covered.
And remember that compared to the cost of the ski holiday and the potential medical claims and convenience when claiming saving an extra tenner on the premium is irrelevant.
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@downhillalltheway,
May i ask what was the on mountain diagnosis?
FYI. If not life threatning i.e sprains,fractures you can refuse Helicopter& asked to be taken down in the gurney & to the nearest public hospital.
Quite often these days In Austria they use Helicopter & take you to a private klinik when it is totally not neccesary & you are presented with a massive bill.
Beware
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| SnoodlesMcFlude wrote: |
| adithorp wrote: |
| Why are you going to Disneyworld at xmas?... there's no skiing there. |
One of my mates is going to Indonesia at New Year, a complete lack of planning imo! |
Splash mountain, Big Thunder Mountain!
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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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@Awdbugga, annual insurance policies get more complicated if going to USA and skiing (Europe) within the same policy year. Obviously policies cost much more if travelling to USA, especially if insurers think you might be skiing there. So several options for how you insure for these different trips.
For European skiing, coupled with summer holidays, I found LV good for annual policy. They were also straightforward to deal with when we had to make a claim after family member broke wrist. They're not the cheapest though.
Florida parks have Blizzard Beach too!
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| intermediate wrote: |
@Awdbugga, annual insurance policies get more complicated if going to USA and skiing (Europe) within the same policy year. Obviously policies cost much more if travelling to USA, especially if insurers think you might be skiing there. So several options for how you insure for these different trips.
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They don't particularly get more complicated - just the premium goes up for Worldwide and again for Worldwide including US. It's all pretty moot for the OP this year if he is looking at a policy now he'll be in a new year when it comes to his Disney trip.
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You know it makes sense.
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Lloyds gold covers worldwide inc skiing - a great improvement and as we don't go off piste it's all we need, saved several hundred pounds a year for me and Mr HL
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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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Thanks for the advice all. I'll talk to my existing travel insurance company and get a quote from them, as well as looking at the small print. I most definitely will not be going off piste. I'm a total beginner.
As to why go to Disney. Cos we love it. We've been there three times in the past for Christmas, staying in Disney Hotels. However next Christmas (2018) will be our last trip there. My much better half wants to see the Harry Potter attraction in Universal. But whether we go there at all will depend upon the cost of insuring my Mrs to travel. We got cover for Europe (£348) for a year, but the cost to travel to the USA is probably going to be an order of magnitude more expensive.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Citibank's freebie explicitly explicitly includes off piste and has no guide related exclusion clauses etc. On a features/ cost ratio basis I'd recommend that, but other banks do similar stuff.
Off piste exclusion clauses are unhelpful, in my opinion. Keeping strictly to the piste can be difficult.
I expect that they'd need to demonstrate in court that your expenses were greater directly because you were off piste to make that stick.
| Quote: |
| When you are choosing ski insurance read the small print and concentrate on the big liabilities that you need to be covered. |
The small print is probably the only bit worth reading.
The "big liabilities" would presumably be the cost of rest-of-life long term care (which reduces to repatriation), not really relevant here as we have EU reciprocal arrangements.
The OP was concerned about "up front" costs, which you may take... and which a credit card may well cover at no cost at all.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| stanton wrote: |
@downhillalltheway,
May i ask what was the on mountain diagnosis?
FYI. If not life threatning i.e sprains,fractures you can refuse Helicopter& asked to be taken down in the gurney & to the nearest public hospital.
Quite often these days In Austria they use Helicopter & take you to a private klinik when it is totally not neccesary & you are presented with a massive bill.
Beware |
He fell in the park. Did a back flip off one jump and over jumped it landing on the up slope of the next. He hit that with such force that he broke both heels, broke his wrist and had serious concussion when he then fell and hit his head with a helmet on. His brother told him to man up and so he skied to Idalp but looked dreadful, was in agony and was then sick. The restaurant called the mountain rescure guys who arrived in a matter of a couple of minutes and took over.
Could he have gone down by gondola and by ambulance to hospital ? Possibly. But when it's your child, you are insured and you don't know how seriously they are injured then getting them to hospital in about 8 minutes is a no brainer. My wife would have paid the money to get him there.
Austria clearly makes a lot of money out of skiing accidents and perhaps sometimes they go over the top BUT, the mountain rescue guys were fantastic, the medical centre at Idalp is absolutely superb and the doctor there was excellent and flew with my son to hospital. They land on the roof and in literally a few minutes they are in the hands of fantastic medical staff. Within an hour he had had x-rays, CT scans and MRI scans. Expensive? Perhaps but it is world class treatment and hopefully a lesson for people who try to save money by not even taking out insurance.
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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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@Awdbugga,
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I most definitely will not be going off piste. I'm a total beginner.
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If hardly any extra cost for cover including off piste, may be a feature worth having. Not unknown to accidentally stray off piste, or to be lured by the call of the untracked snow, even as a beginner.
I don't mean launching off into the great unknown off the back of the mountain, beyond the skull & crossbones signs. Just the bits of mountain in between, or off to the side, of the marked and groomed pistes.
Straying off piste myself now. We loved Universal and the Harry Potter section. Staying in a nearby Universal hotel for a few nights got us early entry and ahead of the massive crowds.
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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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@philwig,
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The "big liabilities" would presumably be the cost of rest-of-life long term care (which reduces to repatriation), not really relevant here as we have EU reciprocal arrangements.
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The "big liabilities" I was referring to were the mountain rescue, ambulance transfers, the 20% of French hospital and Medical bills not covered by EHIC and medical repatriation which in my wife's case totalled over £27,000.
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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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Whilst @Timc is correct, to many people just covering the basics can be an issue and not necessarily within their credit card limits.
As someone said above, Austria (maybe others too, but my experience was there) does seem to do a good profitable sideline in private clinics, and it's not worth assuming that there will be a state or other EHIC-accepting facility either nearby or open when you need it (a shock to me, once: not just in Austria either). When I did in both knees they wanted, I recall, E300 per leg for braces, E600+ per leg for MRIs, who knows how much for the x-rays, emergency consult, drugs, compression bandages and the rest. And that was with me as a hobble-in, hobble-out patient (if maybe a bit naive and first-timer as regards serious injury) without needing any serious treatment, surgery, nursing, observation, casting, etc. (It was a private hospital - no immediately-available or obvious state one, so presumably it'd all have been done if necessary, but all at non-EHIC.) If it's a serious injury you'd probably get transferred to a state facility, but my point is that in reasonably-minor injuries it can quickly and easily mount up, and you either need a good credit card limit to cover it or an insurance company who will pay it up front for you (bar the excess). In my case, MPI did this without quibble with just a phone call and an e-mail from the clinic to the medical assessors.
(In reality, it wasn't MPI Brokers, it was whichever UK medical assistance company they use, so I think actually, for the OP, that's the thing to check - which one they use and how good they are. Sadly, I can't remember off hand... )
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