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The annual "Annual Insurance" thread. This time with added Covid-19.

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Random question having read all the above.....in general, if FCO are advising against all but essential travel - but you decide to go on a ski trip......knowing that insurance would not cover you for cancellation / Covid reasons etc and willing to accept the risk of loss financially......

Would you still be covered if say you broke your leg and had to go to a Hospital? (Post end of year and E111 not being possible).

Or do pretty much all policies not cover any aspects of FCO advice is to not travel - regardless of the reason for injury.

Only asking, as in a position where would be driving to the alps and back (probably most low risk method by all accounts), could keep very isolated in bubble and more than happy to quarantine when returning.
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@Drew Carey, that's a question to ask your insurance company
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@holidayloverxx, yup, that would be next port of call.....just curious if there is a general feel across most policies. My only current cover is the standard Nationwide cover.......but might look at taking out insurance with a specific insurer if anyone knows of any where ski injury cover would still be in place - regardless of FCO / Covid status.
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Drew Carey wrote:

Would you still be covered if say you broke your leg and had to go to a Hospital? (Post end of year and E111 not being possible).


Staysure appear to be offering cover for exactly that circumstance but unfortunately only for one ski trip a year.
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Well, the trouble with the "What would happen if ...?" question to an insurer is that you're never speaking to the claims handlers when you ask the question - you're speaking to someone who is basically a sales rep. I'm not saying it's a conspiracy, or that it's done deliberately, but I regularly see posts here and elsewhere, where people have asked a question, got an answer and then when it comes to a claim the reality turns out to be different. Usually the response seems to be "Well, that's true if ..., but in your case, the circumstance are slightly different. So you're not covered.".

For me, a key question to a potential insurer is "Do you do your own claims handling internally, or outsource it?". I won't touch anyone who outsources claims - it'll be to some underfunded outfit targeted with keeping payout to a minimum. I learnt this lesson with the AA Travel Insurance when I made a camera and clothing theft claim and was asked (seriously) "How long have you been wearing your pajamas?". It took the AA's outsourced claim handlers 15 weeks to come to a payout for the stolen clothing (including part-refund for used pajamas), and 4 weeks for my house insurer's internal claims handling to pay out on the £5K of camera equipment.
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@LaForet, Good points. Who do you use for wintersports insurance that have internal claims handling?
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cad99uk wrote:
@LaForet, Good points. Who do you use for wintersports insurance that have internal claims handling?


LV=, fortunately. Had to claim for the fallout form my wife's broken arm while skiing this March. Totalled about £5K by the time the dust had settled. They were excellent. Not just on the claims processing, but advice from their reps during the immediate aftermath.
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@LaForet, Thanks for that. We have used LV in the past but had to stop because of their limit on ski days.
Having lost our December trip we may be able to use them this season..... if it happens.
Thanks again.
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LaForet wrote:
Well, the trouble with the "What would happen if ...?" question to an insurer is that you're never speaking to the claims handlers when you ask the question - you're speaking to someone who is basically a sales rep.....
Ask it in writing, or record the call.

I take your point, but they're a representative of their company irrespective: their word is their contract.
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@cad99uk wrote:

@LaForet, Thanks for that. We have used LV in the past but had to stop because of their limit on ski days.

Same reason we moved to MPI plus their great attitude to pre-existing conditions. Really good claims experience with both LV= (Their own claims handling) and MPI Brokers (underwritten by Ageas, claims handling, by International Medical Rescue)
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We are with LV - have been for about four years, renewing annual policies, and have never claimed. I emailed them two questions last week, as I wanted the responses in writing, and got very prompt and satisfactory replies. The main question was regarding our January 21 ski holiday, booked early last February, as the (not inconsiderable) balance is due next month. If we pay it, in the midst of a “known situation”, but then can’t travel, are we covered? Answer is yes, as we had the policy in place from December last year and booked before FCO advice against travel. You never really know how good an insurer is, until you have to claim, but responses so far are reassuring, alongside above comments from @Timc, and @LaForet,
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Montana wrote:
We are with LV - have been for about four years, renewing annual policies, and have never claimed. I emailed them two questions last week, as I wanted the responses in writing, and got very prompt and satisfactory replies. The main question was regarding our January 21 ski holiday, booked early last February, as the (not inconsiderable) balance is due next month. If we pay it, in the midst of a “known situation”, but then can’t travel, are we covered? Answer is yes, as we had the policy in place from December last year and booked before FCO advice against travel. ...

That's okay if you have a good (i.e. claimable) reason to cancel before December. But you will then have to renew your insurance, before your holiday. If FCO advice at that time is still "don't travel" then if you renew with anyone other than LV you may not be covered if you subsequently claim. If you renew with LV my understanding is that the current protocol is that you should still be covered for subsequent cancellation, although the situation could change. But if LV are fairly sure they will have to pay out, couldn't they charge you almost anything up to the cancellation cost for the renewal premium?
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My annual travel policy came through today with a 30% increase, underwritten by Zurich so doen't cover Covid and, anyway, it looks like they exclude everything from travel against FCO advice.
Having a search around the "Which" website has a pretty comprehensive, regularly updated page on the current status of most insurers.

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/09/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-your-travel-insurance/

Here's an extract about a few companies providing cover in countries travelled to AGAINST FCO advice;

However, there are some insurers who will cover trips to destinations with FCO warnings – including many that have recently added this element as a response to the pandemic. Avanti and Staysure have both launched cover for countries on the FCO’s ‘all but essential travel’ list, but only for claims not relating to coronavirus. This means if you have a policy with Staysure, you’d still be able to claim for lost luggage in France, say. Insurefor launched its own FCO warning cover, which goes a step further by including coronavirus-related claims. This is only available for destinations in Europe. Insurance startup Battleface – set up initially to insure people whose work takes them to dangerous places, such as journalists covering war zones – has seen a surge in custom from holidaymakers. Its policies provide medical expenses cover if you catch coronavirus while you’re abroad. Battleface has also teamed up with Holiday Extras to sell cover for countries with FCO warnings in place.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
My managed bank account has changed its T&Cs
If at time of booking there is no FCO advice against travelling to the destination, then your holiday is covered if you cant travel.
However, not if you booked & there is FCO advice against travelling.

If FCO advice against travelling when you do travel, then you are not covered for Covid.
If destination is not on FCO advice against, then you are covered for covid illness/death/repatriation.

I think that is fair enough, but pretty much means no ski trip for us next year Sad
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@Mr.Egg, which bank?
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Poster: A snowHead
Does anybody use BMC insurance? I need insurance for non-guided off-piste and touring but potentially some “adventurous” activities in the summer (via ferrata, climbing etc). BMC seems to cover all those pretty comprehensively?
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Cross posting from the Tignes & Espace Killy thread as some of this being discussed there too. I've read through the thread and the Which? article that @BoardieK has helpfully included. This narrowed down the search to a handful of companies that offer medical cover even when travelling against FCO guidance: Nationwide, Insurefor, Battleface, Holiday Extras.

Nationwide: only available to those who have a bank account or mortgage with them so could not pursue further
Insurefor: season-long cover available from approx £500 to £1,000 depending on level of cover which also drives the winter sports option of a trip up to 14 days or 21 days; limited off-piste cover. Some age limits for Covid.
Holiday Extras: claim to offer Covid 'bubble' insurance but I found their site too confusing and gave up. Maybe one for somebody else to follow up?
Battleface: Covid cover if you are under 59; winter sports excluded. £900 for the season.

On the last one, they specialise in providing insurance for travel to war zones. We haven't been at war with France for a while but hey, the way Brexit negotiations are going, who knows... All a sign of the times! The approximate quotes are for a 58yo with no pre-exiting.

So my current conclusion is that to get full cover under the travel insurance route would require 'double insuring': MPI, for example, for the skiing and someone like Insurefor for the Covid.

A second pair of eyes on all this would be very welcome; I could very easily have misread / misinterpreted stuff and got it all hopelessly wrong. I read a report the other day that said, based on the stats we have so far, that catching C-19, at whatever age, basically doubles your existing risk of dying. If an insurer is expected to pick up that kind of risk I guess we should not be surprised at a doubling of costs.

I am also going to take a look at health insurance as apposed to travel insurance. This looks a bit more promising but has similar (elevated) costs.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@BoardieK, Thanks, worth researching, unfortunately they all have problems as far as I am concerned.
Avanti - max 17 days winter sports in a annual policy.
Staysure - max 21 consecutive days winter sports in one trip per year.
Insurefor - winter sports only covered if under 65.
Battleface - no cover for pre-existing medical conditions and Covid cover only for age 59 and under.

Looks very much like there will be no point in renewing my annual policy as travel is looking less and less likely. Crying or Very sad
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@holidayloverxx, I imagine its Nationwide as it sounds like their cover and current terms.

@bobski62, why is Nationwide out for you. Its not too hard to set up a current account with them and I don't think their requirements are too onerous. I set one up recently with them and kept my old current account with another bank for some things.
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I've been posting on the Tignes thread, but we have been trying to find season insurance to supplement the (very comprehensive) MPI seasonnaire's policy for use in France. The MPI policy will cover us for everything, but not for Covid whilst the FCO advice is in place. I just today received details of a worldwide health policy which covers everything medical. My quote was for Europe only and for two of us it was £7000 for a 12 month policy. Clearly there is a lot of cover here which is not needed (it's full medical insurance) and which can be obtained much more cheaply, but I have asked if they would consider individual underwriting for Covid only, for 11 weeks and for France specifically, to cover a gap with the MPI seasonnaires policy. It's a longshot, but worth asking. BTW, the quote was c£2.5K for me (age 64) and c £4.5 for my husband (age 71) so younger people would probably do better. Anyway, will report back if I have any joy on a limited period and/or limited risk policy. It is interesting to know that cover for this risk actually exists which surprises me, at any price.

Second question is, will the risk actually be acceptable in terms of one's own risk appetite?

BTW does anyone who has the Nationwide policy know who underwrites it for them?
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I am going to pay for a Covid antibody test. This seems to allow me to make an informed decision on risk. The general view is they do not know if you are protected and if you are for how long. However, the NHS is encoraging ex-Covid sufferers to donate plasma and are using it to treat current covid sufferers. This I think confirms that previous exposure provides protection.
The knowledge of previous infection or not would appear to allow one to determine if you are at risk from covid or not. It would be interesting to see an Insurers attitude if you have a positive antibody reading.
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@lynnecha, when I took out Nationwide in Nov 2019 the travel policy doc says U K Insurance Limited, who is owned by Direct Line Insurance Group plc
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@lynnecha, The Nationwide underwriting is handled by UK Insurance (same as Direct Line). We had a claim this year (broken bone, repatriation etc) and it was all completed smoothly

edit. Beaten to it!
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Hi @ster, didn't want to set up a bank account just to get a quote. If you and @Mr.Egg, are right and it's Nationwide then sounds like it wouldn't cover what I need tho: season-long cover for on and off piste and for Covid on the basis that France has not been removed from the FCO list by early Nov.

In the fine print @Timc, I think Insurefor also sets limits on skiing days; from memory 21 days for their top-end policy.
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Hi @lynnecha, who was the health insurance quote provided by?

Bear in mind that you may be able to take it out, pay monthly and after your trip give notice and cancel the remainder of the year. Cigna told me on the phone that this would be fine to do (you only need to give 7 days notice) BUT, they specifically exclude winter sports (and no option to top up), so did not pursue further.

April International say they cover skiing, off piste & Covid and have quoted just over £1,100 for 6 months. Acs-ami come in a fair bit cheaper for same duration but not studied the detail of their cover yet. Allianz have simply emailed back to say ring and get in touch. Might pick things up again tomorrow.
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@bobski62, I didnt pick up on your requirement for a season and yes the Nationwide policy has a trip limit of 31 days. But this can can also be extended by purchasing further cover.

Also some activities are excluded like glacier skiing but again possible by buying further cover.

Unfortunately they wont send you the policy doc to see all this until you take out the current account.
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holidayloverxx wrote:
@Mr.Egg, which bank?


Halifax (under written by axa)

1st page says :-

You're still covered for emergency medical expenses and repatriation if you fall ill with Covid 19 or another pandemic related illness, as long as you haven't travelled against the advice of the FCDO, rquivalent authority or medical professions. And you're covered for the cancellation of your trip because you or a close relative is diagnosed with Covid or another pandemic illness, or if you have to quarantine due to contact from NHS Track & Trace or UK equiv. service.
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Quote:

Unfortunately they wont send you the policy doc to see all this until you take out the current account.

Nationwide Flexplus Travel policy on this link https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/media/MainSite/documents/products/current-accounts/flexplus/P3349_FlexPlus_Worldwide_Family_Travel_Insurance_Policy-from-1-nov-2019.pdf
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You know it makes sense.
scan of the changes :-
https://ibb.co/1zWrNkP
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@Mr.Egg, Thanks. my Lloyds is Axa as well so will have a look
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@bobski62, it’s with NowHealth.
I have spoken to Nowhealth and they have said they only do annual policies with no cancellation over the term of 12 months.

I’m still looking
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I know this is not relevant for the majority of SnowHeads but there are a fair number of us who plan to stay the whole season and have the issue of Brexit and those potential limitations to deal with.

I've been looking at various insurance options as our situation due to Brexit and wanting to stay longer (France) than 30 days in any six month period is to go for either a Retired Visa (we can both prove adequate pensions) or even a Work Visa due to Style Altitude Website where we work with Serre Che Tourist board and other "partners" - in both cases we'd have to show adequate Insurance Cover and in shopping around the MPI Long Stay including Off piste cover (Europe wide) from December 1st to end of May is circa £1,400 for both of us, this is by far the cheapest that I have found with some in the £5k pa range!

There also is on the MPI site no mention of Brexit or the eventuality of no EHIC - and listening to Martin Lewis the other day if you take policies out before various events and there is no mention of them then you are covered.

I should also add that we have an annual Austrian Alpine Club insurance
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@Weathercam, A few of us have been debating these options. I spoke with MPI and they will cover everything apart from Covid risk on their seasonnaire's policy and it is this that is the vexing question. There is a bit of a conversation on the Tignes thread which we have moved over to here, but it is worth reading that if you haven't already.

Re: EHIC, I live in the Isle of Man and we have never had access to the EHIC as the IOM is not part of the UK and has never been in the EU. All the UK insurers seem to be happy with this situation and I point it out to them everytime I renew. I have never had any push back on it. Don't know if that is relevant or not, but they still cover us with no access to EHIC or reciprocal EU medical cover.
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@Mark1863, Interesting point. We may just do that. It does give you a little more insight into the risk profile.

@jtr, @ster, Thanks for that. I was wondering if they do a similar policy for anyone else other than Nationwide that may include similar cover. I will give them a ring.
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@lynnecha, it might be because we were looking at the Long Stay Insurance

https://mpibrokers.com/travel-insurance/longstay-insurance then click on the link that says Get a Quote and this is in your face.



MPI now covers Emergency Medical Expenses if you contract Coronavirus Overseas

All current and new MPI policies will now include cover under the Emergency Medical Expenses section, which includes hospital costs, ambulance costs, additional accommodation costs (if you are unable to travel home as originally booked) and repatriation if it’s medically necessary.

For policies issued after 13th March 2020 5.30pm - there is no cover under any other section (in particular, the FCO warning* under cancellation or curtailment) for claims caused by the Coronavirus. This includes any preventative containment or delay measures.


My OH as editor of Style Altitude is now trying to get an Interview with the top guy at MPI who sets up these policies and the Winter Sports Cover


Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 23-09-20 14:36; edited 1 time in total
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Weathercam wrote:
There also is on the MPI site no mention of Brexit or the eventuality of no EHIC - and listening to Martin Lewis the other day if you take policies out before various events and there is no mention of them then you are covered.

Martin Lewis is correct but Covid has been a known event for a long time and even people with an annual policy taken out before, will rub up against the 'pandemic clause' and 'FCO advice' clause in the policy wording.

With EHIC, if you start your trip before 1st Jan '21, then it covers you for the duration of your trip. I'm pretty sure that the intention there is to cover holidaymakers on a typical holiday duration coming back fairly soon after the curtian comes down (but who the hell knows?) Your situation seems to me to be more like residency which would bypass EHIC anyway because you'd be in the French system.

Some people above are either confused or seem to be looking at some kind of hybrid insurance cover using both travel insurance and IPMI (International private medical insurance). IPMI is designed for acute/planned medical procedures in private facilities, whereas travel insurance is for emergency medical treatment only. And never the twain shall meet. IPMI is v pricey (and the excess can be big), it might cover the sporting injury repair itself but probably not the helicopter and repat should you be keen to get 'home', or the legal liability side of it.
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@Mark1863, I'm no medical expert but I thought there were cases in China where people have been re-infected, so having the antibodies isn't a guarantee you won't catch it again?
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I just spent an hour on the live chat with insurefor.com.

As per above, they do not provide winter sports cover for people over 64. I asked specifically if, given that we are fully covered under our MPI policy for all risks relating to winter sports, can they confirm that we would be covered for medical expenses relating to Covid in France, with FCO guidance against non-essential travel. They confirmed that yes, we would be covered, but not for anything that happened in resort as a result of us being in a ski resort, e.g. slipping on ice. Illness would be covered, including Covid 19.

We are thinking that this cover, together with the MPI seasonnaire's insurance may just do it. I haven't read the policy document yet, but it looks very hopeful. The price of the cover, for 11 weeks, for a 64 and a 71 year old was £720. This is additional to the £850 we paid to MPI, but it looks like very good value for money at the moment.

Thanks to all for the input. This is such a minefield.
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kitenski wrote:
@Mark1863, I'm no medical expert but I thought there were cases in China where people have been re-infected, so having the antibodies isn't a guarantee you won't catch it again?


I think I read two cases of “reinfection” (which of course could be a variant of the virus, so they’re not certain). Thinking seems to be that antibodies will give fairly short-term immunity but T-Cells much longer lasting protection, and in any case the effects are likely to be milder with any reinfection.
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Various research indicates that for UK skiers, out of every ten, 5 are over 50 and of those 2 are over 60. It's going to be interesting to see how far down the age range insurers will end up in terms of (a) just not being interested in cover and (b) applying Foreign Office exclusions and destination quarantine situations. All I'm worried about is the cover for heli-evac and prolonged treatment e.g. ICU and/or recovery in hospital but even then, it doesn't look encouraging from the above feedback.
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