Long stay ski insurance providers

A snowHead

Hi everyone!

Would be grateful for any advice / thoughts. Husband and I are off to France for the season in December, meaning will be there for 5 months (but with one trip planned to the UK during this time). I've been looking into long stay ski insurance and wanted to ask if any of you had any thoughts on providers? Can't go with the AAC as they cover up to 4 months only and BMC do offer long term but as a single trip option, so no good because the policy is cancelled out once we travel back to the UK.

Companies I'm now comparing are

Have any of you dealt with them? My confusion here is that Skicover & JS Travel both offer their policies through PJ Hayman (underwritten by AIG). So pretty much the same policies (to note, BMC is also the same). MPI is underwritten by another company.

Price points are similar for MPI and Skicover (£700-£800 mark, ouch) but JS Travel is £515 for their Longstay Plus policy. So I am feeling a little bit confused as to how to proceed rolling eyes

Are there any companies I should steer well clear of?!

I did also come across Big Cat as part of Googling long term insurance but not sure if it's worth it or more of a backpacker offering?

Thanks a bunch!
Saba Smile

(PS Snowcard told me they don't do long term insurance)

A snowHead

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

@Sabaya, I used MPI pre-covid/pre-Brexit for a 5 month stay in Tignes. IIRC it was a Seasonnaire package. They were excellent to deal with. Real people on the phone if you need to contact them.

edit, Used in conjunction with a GHIC card, and carte neige purchased with my Season pass.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

This is our annual bugbear as we ski the season
For the policies, the devil is always in the detail around max trip length and if it looks too cheap to be true, it probably is or its a firm with a poor payout record or lots of exemptions

You also need to make sure you aren't buying cover that is designed for a season worker when you are a season skier

For the last couple of season we get the Savoie Carre Neige Season cover when we buy our pass plus our GHIC card that gets us the same as a French local

The Carre Neige gives us enough cover for accidents and repatriation and getting us off the mountain with no faff

We arent bothered with loss of kit, delays, loss of pass or no snow days etc as its our apartment and we drive down

We may need to pay for stuff but then claim back when in the UK from GHIC which we've done before

Our household cover in the UK covers all our valuable world wide at a decent limit

The Carre Neige and GHIC probably isnt perfect cover but if someone takes my skis, I'm lucky enough to be able to buy some more

The one thing missing is third party risk but I tend to have an element of control over that and there is also the element of risk accepted by all skiers in going skiing - happily I only ski in the Savoie and not USA

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Interested to see you have also gone for the carre neige and ghic option . We do the same as we just need the rescue , treatment and repatriation if necessary but I have often wondered if there is some reason why this isn’t sufficient as it is so much cheaper than the longer stay insurance bought through one of the usual providers . The only thing I could think of was that it wouldn’t cover non ski accidents on a skiing holiday (eg falling just walking down the street ) so I’ve in the past just had an annual non ski policy for Europe . But I’m always a bit worried about whether this is sufficient so do let me know !

You'll need to Register first of course.

The CN does all the rescue stuff and pays something like 50k euro for medical over what the french system provides under GHIC.

We don't need all the other fluff a travel policy provides such as delay, cancellation etc as its our apartment and we drive there and back. If I miss the ferry back, it doesn matter. I dont need £2k of cover for that.

We dont need valuables cover or loss of kit either so lots of what a travel policy provides, we don't need or want

I slipped on the hill walking last summer and tore some ligaments in my ankle

I got back to the car as it wasn't far and my wife drove me to the hospital in Bourg. I had an exam and then some X rays and then strapped up, prescription and rest and movement regime. Out in less than 20 mins. I paid something like 20 euro plus the prescription charge

France does have a decent health system and I don't need to be back in the UK.

If I was very unlucky and I had a serious crash and needed to be in hospital for a long time, I'd either stay there or use the CN to repatriate me.

I think having our own places in France does change our view and we aren't on holiday so dont have a holiday mindset of all the issues of getting out and back on specific dates, what happens if I miss the plane/ferry/tunnel etc

If I was going to USA or Canada, I'd have as much cover as I could get

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

I've had to cover my son for long stay in the USA for the next year, both medical cover and accident insurance that doesn't exclude skiing and competing. It doesn't come cheap.

After all it is free

@ipken, I do the same.. Carre Neige plus EHIC.

Thanks all so much for your thoughts! We will def be getting the Carre Neige when we buy our ski passes and we both have the EHIC/GHIC (can't remember which). I guess maybe I thought that we need to have that extra cover because it's a long trip. @ipken, totally get your POV regarding delays and lost things. We are also driving down and have car insurance & breakdown, to cover that aspect, and like you, not worried if we miss the ferry then it's not worth a full insurance claim!

Def thought about the annual multi-trip options as a) cheaper and b) would cover the rest of the year for other travel. Thanks for mentioning that.

@boulevardier, yes I am now also wondering if there is a reason for the seasonnaire / long stay insurance need.

Question - does the CN cover off-pisting and is that conditional on having a guide?

Thank you all! Really appreciate the advice!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

On the car insurance front, you will need to check that your car insurance gives you enough days in Europe

Most will have a 90 day limit but firms like Saga offer more days but they don't cover all vehicles

If your cover ends while you are away you also need to make sure that you can renew when not in the UK

I had a french 'A' plate driver pull across the front of my car and I had to provide evidence of trip out to my insurer, presumably to check I wasnt outside of the terms when the accident occurred.

As an aside, the accident was Dec 21 and even though the other party signed the french insurance accident forms saying it was their fault, the french insurers are refusing to pay out meaning my excess of £700 hasn't been refunded

My insurer, Admiral which is a semi sensible firm, has appointed solicitors to chase it, but are saying that since Brexit, more french insurers are not paying out unless the UK insurer goes to court which takes years

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

oh no! We're with Admiral too and I've checked 4 times that the policy can be extended while we're out of the UK. Thanks for flagging!!

Just going to ring them now actually to check personal belongings cover outside of the UK.

Feeling a little strange that maybe long-term season insurance is not needed?!

snow reports

@Sabaya,
Find the resort you are going to in the Snow Reports forum and ask there.

@Kenzie, I'd suggest not clogging up/derailing a snow report or resort info thread with the minutiae of much discussed insurance matters. the thread is fine right here...isn't it?

You know it makes sense.

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

Help!!

Long stay ski insurance providers

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