Are your skis insured if skis not locked

A snowHead

Hi all,
I'm toying with the idea of buying a decent ski lock to take on the Birthday Bash. Would the insurance company cough up if they were not locked and got stolen?

The answer may well influence my decisions to buy.

Cheers

A snowHead

Probably not!
Insurance will probably say they was left unattended in an unsecured place.
I would not call a ski rack on the piste a secured place.

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

There was a thread about this recently...

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=3139082

Short answer is "maybe, depends on insurer"

I have a compact ski (well, snowboard) lock I use in busier or more accessible locations just in case.

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My insurance uses the words "forcibly removed" rather than specifically stating that they must be locked. So I have a cable lock purely to comply.

I avoid restaurants in a village itself, or right at the very top of a gondola or cable car with downlift. Elsewhere, anyone pinching skis is more likely to be idiots picking up the wrong ones.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Depends on your insurer. For e.g. from MPI's website:

"We also appreciate certain actions cannot really be avoided, such as leaving your skis/boards outside a mountain restaurant, or sneaking through a snowpark for a quick jump, therefore there are no exclusions regarding snowparks or loss of skis up a mountain."

Of course, depending on the age of your skis you might not get back much money anyway.

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@Awdbugga, skis generally have cover reduced by 25% per year till after 4 years they are worthless, and by year 3 are only worth the excess. I am not bothered about the insurance but do always lock mine to save inconvenience if they disappear

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

@Awdbugga, I believe that most skis go missing off the rack outside the restaurant because of mistaken identity, especially among renters. If no precautions are taken to stop this happening, like splitting skis, then I can't see why any insurer would be sympathetic. For owned skis which might be worth 6-800 quid, you'd have to ask yourself if you'd leave that kind of value item unattended and unlocked and expect it to be reimbursed. I think best to assume not.

For years I have relied on just splitting skis and park them well away from the rack and I have never had an issue. The only time I did have an issue was from a locked ski room.

After all it is free

I used to split ski's with the OH until some idiot decided to steal them anyway. Insurance company paid up for 2 pairs despite us still having one each. I now lock new ski's up but after about 3 years don't bother as no longer worth anything.

Just checked my Insure and Go Policy -the hired total is £250 . I'm beginning to think that is the grand total for the family so if four lots of skis (unlucky but possible) go missing, the ski shop will be saying that one pair is well in excess of that even if end of season. The ski shop insurance is usually very expensive -time to see if anyone offers standalone ski hire insurance like car hire excess which is so much cheaper if not bought from the car hire co.

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I remain perplexed why everyone doesn't lock up their skis.
We tend to lock up everything else.
Bicycles especially - even if not worth much, there is the inconvenience of how to get home without.
Locks don't cost much - they are quick and easy to use.
I use one all the time
Why doesn't everyone?
The best answer i can think of is Tradition and Habit.
Or maybe it is not "cool" to lock up your skis.
Whatever, it doesn't seem sensible to me.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I ski on 215s

Nobody will steal those.

snow reports

Decision made, I’m going to buy a lock.

I lock mine to avoid the inconvenience

You know it makes sense.

It also depends on the resort. Some resorts use the SkiKey system which requires just a small matchbox sized lock which fits in the racks after you've slotted your skis/board in.

Common in NA and Canada but less so in Europe. I know Val d'Isere lift office sells them as there are a number of racks around the resort.

https://usa.skikey.com

Wish more resorts would adopt them.

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

@Jonpim, because I can't be bothered to carry a lock around with me. But my skis are insured regardless of whether I lock them or not.

A snowHead

Should the matter come to arbitration/court then it would come down to - as these things always do - what was reasonable.

Houses and cars have locks and so a reasonable person would use them when leaving them unattended. Skis don't have locks and so the insurer would have to very specific in their policy wording to have a chance of successfully refusing a theft claim - as they sometimes are with bicycles for example

A snowHead

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

@Jonpim, probably because the number of ski thefts are miniscule compared to the number of pairs of skis that are left outside of huts every day. Can't say I've ever noticed a locked pair, and split pairs are few and far between.

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How would an insurance company prove that you didn't have them locked if they're stolen? Twisted Evil

Or do you have to take a photo of the locked skis with that days newspaper in shot every time you stop and secure your skis?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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It’s Location, Location, Location about where you leave your skis. 1. Outside a ski accessible mountain restaurant, is fine. 2. Outside a main lift restaurant with easy access, and binding adjustment station, less so. 3. Outside a village restaurant/bar, with walk by theft options, then really no.

There is also the option of ‘follow home’ theft, which has happened to a couple of people I know.

The main indicator of caution, is whether the resort provides lockable ski racks up the mountain.

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

After all it is free

NickJ-I think you are correct and that hired total refers to all that you have hired e.g boots, helmet, skis, poles. I don't think I've ever known hire boots get stolen especially towards end of season . I haven't managed to find any company in the UK just doing stand alone insurance for ski hire -guess the market is too small. Probably bite the bullet and pay the shop as too much hassle with excesses and police reports. One beer less a night should do it and probably not a bad thing.

Unless you have something particularly esoteric the biggest risk is that someone picks up your skis by mistake. If you do have esoteric either it might be exotica in which case desirable or old crap in which case don't worry.

Don't forget most rental punters can't easily remember the colour of their skis nevermind make or model.

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Does anyone have any actual figures for the amount of skis etc stolen? Is it actually a real problem or something that happens rarely? It would be interesting to hear from any snowhead that has had the misfortune to be a victim of this sort of crime

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@Rabbie, do a search...it seems to happen from tine to rime and thats just the people who mention it

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My snowboard costs about a grand and is fairly tricky to replace.
There's no chance I'd leave a grand's worth of toys unlocked anywhere, ever. Equally there's no chance I'd insure something like that.

We always split skis after witnessing my ski-school instructor loosing hers after a stop in Courchevel. When we have new ones they get split & locked when we're in busy places and get put as far apart as possible.

If your bindings are mounted on rails and easy to take off, why not take a toe or heel binding off & put it in your pocket? Just make sure you know where it was set to...

You know it makes sense.

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

Lots of interesting comments and thoughts.
For me locking skis makes for peace of mind.
I have picked up the wrong skis by mistake, i know friends who have done the same.
I've also had skis stolen - one set from side of piste by restaurant, another set from apartment balcony.

A ski lock fits in a pocket, they are quick and easy to use.
And most of my Seasonaire friends lock their skis.
No brainer for me. But i know most people think otherwise.

A snowHead

We used to mis-match skis rigorously. Certain resorts do seem prone to theft. Asking an Instructor, he said that it tended to be where vehicles could get close to the slopes and easily drive off with the stolen skis. He felt many were mis-takes and if you waited, there'd be a lone pair there at the end of the day. Two people in our group lost pairs to theft under the former circumstances - they were mis-matched, but this didn't seem to prove a problem (it was surmised the thieves were simply watching).

I know someone who suffered mistaken removal, and the café were happy to take a look at the end of the day and put the left-behind skis aside for them to collect. So at least they had a substitute pair to return to the ski hire place. The café weren't at all surprised by the request, so it may be that this is much more common than we realised.

Nowadays, I don't bother but I might if I was out for longer.

A snowHead

I have a fluro green velcro strap that I put round mine. It's a 2 second job and stops the mistaken identity issue which - as others have said - is very common. There must be about 1000 sets of Head Magnum or Rossi Hero skis in any given resort

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

Always lock our skis now after one of the kids had theirs taken at lunch - obviously a mix up as we were left with a similar pair from same hire company! While it was all sorted out without argument, it did lose us a half-day skiing in doing so

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As has been said, it's the nuisance factor as much as the insurance that leads me to use a small cable lock.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'd generally like to think that there aren't that many people riding 189cm Preachers around ski resorts... they're a bit on the unique side. So mistaken identity should be limited.
But I use my lock because:

1. I hope it makes it harder to steal my skis than somebody else's, so the thieves will just nick some which aren't locked.
2. Nobody is going to force the lock to pick the skis up by mistake. If nothing else it'll show people they're picking up my skis not theirs.
3. If you still force the lock and I see you on my skis around resort, I can kick your head in safe in the knowledge that you acted deliberately.

Prevention is still better than cure though. Don't leave your skis in stupid places, and if possible, keep them in sight from inside the restaurant.

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I lock mine just really for peace of mind as I'm a worrier. I use a loqski and I'm really happy with it. It a little heavy but I quite like that its strong. Biggest issue I have is my friends who don't lock theirs tutting as I'm faffing putting it on and off. I can live with that.

A big plus for me too is that my poles are also locked up, they're probably the easiest bit to pinch

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

Just a word if caution:
Couple of years ago was quietly supping yummy hot chocky in Tignes Lac cafe when waiter announced loudly if anyone in had locked up a pair of Cham 87s outside? Yes, c'est moi! Oh dear. Seemed i had included another set of skis Embarassed

After all it is free

@Jonpim,

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Are your skis insured if skis not locked

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