 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Guys... Was just hoping someone could recommend a company that would provide Insurance for the duration of a Ski Instuctors Course in Canada.
I spent the best part of a day phoning Insurance Companies with varying degrees of success.
The cheapest option i could find was with Endsleigh who came out at around £330 but the actual policy payouts for baggage and ski equipment etc would hardly cover the price of a pair of skis. Although medical Insurance was adequate.
Most others came in at over £450 right up to a quote of £1200 
Has anyone got experience of doing this, and what is the realistic price i should expect to pay?
Any info or help would be much appreciated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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spud, >£300 or so seems about right. Do Endsleigh not have an option to upgrade equipment cover?
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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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BMC - probably won't work out the cheapest, but will work out the best (when I've had to claim from them for stolen skis and poles, I had the money within two weeks, no quibbles). Remember you DON'T need the professional working cover, if you do get a job, the ski school will insure you whilst working. You will need the extended cover option to last for the whole season.
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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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Cheers for that...
I'll have to speak to Endsleigh about upgrading cover.
BMC came out at about £500.
Speaking to various company's, it seems the underwriters are all different. Some don't cover race training, some do. Others like Dog tag won't even offer a policy now. SCGB don't either. It seems the length of the stay is a big hinderance. A multi trip policy would work out very reasonable for a years cover, but as a single trip long duration it goes through the roof. Which doesn't make sense to me... 
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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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I used BMC for a season in Austria a couple of years ago, was about £350 I think. From memory, level four, extended time period. They were one of the few that clearly cover offpiste without a guide.
I used Dogtag for one kayaking trip this summer that was too long for my normal annual BMC policy, and Dogtag were cheaper than getting another BMC single trip option. Wish i'd gone BMC now, I got spanked by a big Alpine river broke my boat and lost my blades. With Dogtag I can only claim £100 for each (RRP is 899 and 209 respectively), BMC would have been only £30 extra but I could have claimed upto £500 per item. A reminder in why scrimping on insurance is a bad idea.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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BMC
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I spent last winter working in canada as a ski instructor and used Dog tag. It cost me about £250 and that covered me for off piste, decent equipment cover etc. I can highly recomend Dog tag they were always helpful and answered all questions i had.
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Dog tag refused to Insure me on an Instructors Course, but like you said...will insure as a qualified Instructor. I've got no medical condition or anything untoward.
What i don't understand, is that i'm looking at approx £500 for 4 months, yet it costs approxiamately the same for someone to compete on the World Cup circuit for the same price. That's what i've understood from recent threads and posts. It just doesn't add up.
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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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4 months worldwide with BMC is coming out at £448 when I check... shame you're in Canada as Yurp is £230!
They've changed the annual cover options too, much better now!
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That's right mate...then add on becoming a member, so not far off £500. Never heard of Yurp...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Europe in a US accent.
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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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| spud wrote: |
Dog tag refused to Insure me on an Instructors Course, but like you said...will insure as a qualified Instructor. I've got no medical condition or anything untoward.
What i don't understand, is that i'm looking at approx £500 for 4 months, yet it costs approxiamately the same for someone to compete on the World Cup circuit for the same price. That's what i've understood from recent threads and posts. It just doesn't add up. |
Most of the cost in any insurance is the 3rd party cover. Racers while racing are not going to be skiing around too many other people and thus their risk of a 3rd party claim is much reduced. Yes there is some risk, but skiing on a crowded piste gives more chance of a 3rd party claim.
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spud, I'm also doing an instructors course in Canada. I looked around and although 'Voyager' came in dirt cheap (£130 from memory) I went with BMC in the end (£448) - why? Well because I've heard BMC are good, whereas if you pay £130, in my mind, should you need to make a claim, they'll find every way possible to wriggle out of it....
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You know it makes sense.
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Cheers for all the replies guys.
BMC look the way forward it seems. I'll just have to pay that little extra for piece of mind.
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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 would just make sure that you have a credit card or family that will put money in your account as if you get hurt you need to pay and then you get it back from the insurance company. Good luck with the course I did one in Canada last year and loved every minute of it
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Poster: A snowHead
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spud, are you doing a BASI-affiliated gap course? If so, DogTag offer gap course insurance through www.basi.org.uk (but not through their main site).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Why not do BASI and solve the problem.
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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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Hi Guy's...It's a CSIA course not BASI. I've looked at BASI insurance and it's swings and roundabouts between them and BMC. Just depends on what level of insurance you take out. For example the lowest level on the BASI insurance only pays out £500 for Ski Equipment with £100 excess...not really worth having. You need at least the £2000 on their max level and that works out at Approx £450 for the duration. Alos on the lowest level of BASI they don't cover Race Training which i'm doing.
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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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My son did the CASI course with Snowskool in Banff the year before last and used the BMC. He made a couple of claims for medical bills and they were excellent. No hesitation about recommending them. Good luck and enjoy the course! 
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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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Basi is the British association of snow-sport instructors
Csia is the Canadian Ski instructors' alliance
They both have different relation ships with different insurance people. So getting insurance for courses is a nightmare.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hey Spud, Good question,
I am now in the same predicament, off to Canada to do a Ski Instructor Course starting Jan, I had seen BMC so good to see some positive reviews on here (as quite costly).
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Doesn't the company you're going with recommend anyone?
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Legally I don't think the companies are allowed to recommend anyone in particular, I know Nonstop simply give a list of most popularly used in the past and such, the main ones being BMC, Direct-Travel, TGIC and Dogtags (under a different name though I think). Getting insurance for the instructors course seems a pain, pretty sure it's covered by BMC though that's undoubtedly the most expensive option. Seems to be the only one to actually mention recovery fees though which are a serious worry (helicopters are not cheap).
I'm doing a season from 5th December til May 14th and looking at about £500 for Direct-Travel (as there's a 20% discount til 30th September) or £600 for BMC, they seem to be the best options as Dogtag's medical bills aren't great unless you go with Dogtag Max which is a massive price increase for little benefit besides the medical bills. Going to have to call Direct-Travel about the instructor course though as they claim to need a referral for those on one, but I don't think it'll make the insurance much more expensive if at all. Also BMC want an extra £650 if I'm going to do any snowboarding whereas Direct-Travel cover a whole load of winter sports. As I want to try snowboarding at some point it seems unlikely I'd choose them as an option.
In short from what I've found out, if you're going to do a ski season with an instructor's course at any point, to get the sort of insurance you need don't expect it to cost less than £600. I would recommend Direct-Travel at this discounted rate every time (as it was better than BMC in almost all respects, and not worse in any) IF recovery is covered, otherwise BMC.
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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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Whilst the options above are all great what everyone seems to have missed out on is the recovery of prepaid course fees in the event of an accident. My son was on a ski course in Whistler and had insurance from the BMC. First week in he snapped a cruciate ligament and whilst the medical bills were covered the course fees were not and we were ineligible for a refund from the company in Canada. Left me personally out of pocket for about 5 grand. He is going back this year and took me a long time to find an insurer who understood what i was talking about with regarding to insuring the course fees both pre travel and during the course. Only one I found was skicover.com and it took a while too fine tune the policy but got there in the end. Dont get caught out by my experience and make sure the fees are covered both before and after you arrive in resort.
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Not sure which company your son went with - you failed to let us know - but when I was running my own company In The Powder at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, BC, Canada providing ski & snowboard instruction course I had two incidents.
A snowboarder on the course injured his back and was unable to ride for 6 weeks. He did full rehab in Golden, BC which was covered by the BMC policy and I refunded him all the costs that he didn't use - instruction and exam fees.
A skier had frostbite of both big toes after a -30 C powder day at Castle Mountain, Alberta. He too spent his rehab in Golden, BC and I refunded him all the costs that he didn't use - instruction, exam fees, cat skiing day, heli skiing day.
I would suggest that the company your son used didn't "do him a solid" as they say in western Canada and pocketed the money he'd paid to them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Spot on there, I did feel cheated. They make it so complex with an all inclusive price as well and they were not happy to break down the pricing so that I could claim back unused portions of accommodation, skipass etc which was insured. Should have gone with you but my kids set on the "bright lights" of Whistler
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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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Sorry to read that. But it's far too common amongst companies in this section of the industry.
And if my experience is anything to go by, most of the 'unused portions' would not have been paid for at the time of your son's injury.
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I went to Fernie a couple of years ago to do my CSIA L1&2, used BMC. No issues. But certainly wasn't that pricey!
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You know it makes sense.
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Has anyone used SkiCover.com for ski instructor course insurance?
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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 just called them and the policy is not available at the moment due to underwriter issue.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for the tip and the help.
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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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Hi - I work for Big Cat travel Insurance - we cover ski / snowboard instructor courses Worldwide - We cover on / off-piste including Heli-skiing and have the option to cover Ski / terrain parks & Jumps up to 9m. Feel free to give us a shout if we could be of any assistance
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Fri 12-11-21 13:17; edited 1 time in total
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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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would suggetst a new thread as this ones start is Tue 04 Oct, 11.
Over ten years ago.
Just seen the above duur
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FAQ
Please feel free to start new thread if you have something to ask or share, as resurrecting old threads causes simpletons like me to reread a whole thread only to realise they read it before, years ago 