 Poster: A snowHead
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Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for insurance, they all seem to vary a lot in price but 'offer' the same... Thanks 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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@Snow&skifan, do you have a link for that recommendation? I'm surprised. It's been highlighted a few times on here that the Staysure policy wording is very odd w.r.t. avalanche risk.
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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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Most Banks offer accounts that have travel insurance as part of the benifits.
Nat West had a great one it was "Free for Life" ... until I turned 70 ... I think they thought I would not last this long.
Still a great policy though even at £75.00 per annum.
I think they spell it different though. 
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Fri 5-01-24 23:01; edited 1 time in total
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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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MPI seems fairly good with regard to T&Cs in my opinion, but they are still underwritten by Ageas which is a huge concern for me, given how Ageas treated a previous valid claim I made.
Columbus Direct also seem reasonably good and a lot cheaper. They allow off piste skiing without a guide, subject to you basically acting sensibly.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@TillyT, do you ski off piste? If not, then yeah most are much of a muchness. One of the things (not easy) is to figure out which have good claim handlers (often different to the seller).
I am with LV who seem to have a good rep for claims. But I also ski off piste - which they are good for too.
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| sugarmoma666 wrote: |
| @Snow&skifan, do you have a link for that recommendation? I'm surprised. It's been highlighted a few times on here that the Staysure policy wording is very odd w.r.t. avalanche risk. |
Which? is behind a members paywall, but I just checked winter sports insurance for you. They rate:
NFU Home & Lifestyle 78%
Barclays Travel Pack 78%
Staysure Signature 76%
Nationwide Flex Plus 74%
AllClear Platinum 73%
Insure & Go Black 73%
Off piste is obviously a special consideration, as is US medical cover.
Something that may interest those unhappy with premiums due to medical histories, is that Staysure is in our experience decent value. Everyone different of course, but our annual premium just £200 for 4 adults despite a lengthy list of meds and bits n pieces. One lengthy phone call at inception, in subsequent years just a brief chat.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Fri 5-01-24 23:23; edited 1 time in total
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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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@Snow&skifan, I can see behind the paywall but can't see where you're looking.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Interesting. I note the list doesn't include any of the dedicated winter sports policies.
From a quick look at the policy wording of a couple, it's not clear if you'd be covered if you ski anywhere outside of the piste markers, even if it's just a tiny bit or cutting across between pistes. Maybe not an issue to some but would be to me.
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I spent last night in an ADHD hyperfocus trying to find insurance for son as he is no longer covered on our Flexplus account. I literally read all of the Policy Wordings to see what was covered as some don't make it obvious that medical rescue is included, and most only cover your own skis.
Couldn't really find anything as good as the Nationwide policy for what I considered to be a reasonable price - we don't have our own kit so I was hoping to find one that, like Flexplus, would cover the hire kit. I called FlexPlus and it would have been £70 to add him for a week as a "guest".
I eventually narrowed it down to Allianz and InsureandGo - the InsureandGo was probably the better policy but I plumped for Allianz as it was half the price and good enough as long as the helicopter doesn't cost more than £10million! Cost for 1 week for a 23yrs old with no previous conditions was £38 - I got p'd off with insureandgo because on the comparison sites having asked for winter cover the price was about £30 but when I went to pay I realised that the comparison sites said what the policy covered but the price was based on a standard non-wintersports cover - think it ended up about £65 once that was added.
InsureandGo had a pop up on the site that says medical rescue is part of wintersports, but the actual policy document doesn't make that clear - so I contacted them on chat and they confirmed that if you have Wintersports the section of medical emergency covers an emergency while doing Wintersports and therefore if it was deemed that rescue of the mountain was medically required it would be covered.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
I spent last night in an ADHD hyperfocus
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My daughter has ADHD, @skimummk, and I recognise that description! Her capacity to master enormous quantities of complex information in the twinkling of an eye and develop and retain a strategic overview is breathtaking. But as you no doubt know to your cost, that superpower is also a burden!
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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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Staysure - Just check the policy wording - in the very small print regarding not covered if the avalanche risk is 3 or above - this was the case previously!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Dippy wrote: |
| Staysure - Just check the policy wording - in the very small print regarding not covered if the avalanche risk is 3 or above - this was the case previously! |
Already covered above in the thread, including a link to their FAQ (which solve nothing in my view).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I can give a thumbs up for Insure&Go. Used them for years now & claimed 3 times without any quibble. The last claim in 2022 was for full medical repatriation back to the UK following a pelvis fracture & it was all covered.
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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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| Chuckles3 wrote: |
| I can give a thumbs up for Insure&Go. Used them for years now & claimed 3 times without any quibble. The last claim in 2022 was for full medical repatriation back to the UK following a pelvis fracture & it was all covered. |
+1
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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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Thanks for all the help guys, insurance 
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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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On Nationwide with Flex account, was considering this but off piste is only with a guide (all depends what they think is off piste though. Just going off the groomed into the powder within resort boundary, or proper back country type stuff?).
Also there's no mtb cover at all which for an annual policy if be interested in. Okay most only cover mtb on tame trails but they seem to not cover it at all, only as a hazardous activity addition and still only tame stuff.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Our nationwide insurance with the managed bank account was great was missus hurt herself last year.
Refunded every penny without even asking for a receipt or proof! Was about £600 claim for sausage rescue, xray, busses & unused lift pass.
If I had known it was so quibble free, I would have got a taxi both ways, instead of trying to keep costs down 
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@Gored, What's a "sausage rescue"?
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I commented on SHs years ago about Dog Tag insurance (which advertised on SHs). Their conditions excluded skiing "against local advice". I spoke to their underwriters to clarify this and eventually gave up. Skiing on a closed piste is an obvious case - and cut and dried. But after lots of "skiing outside the resort boundary" stuff, not relevant to European skiing (nobody I could get to talk to was a skier) they said if there was any avalanche risk warning, off piste would clearly be excluded. No matter how much I explained that there was always an avalanche risk warning when there was still snow around, they were adamant.
As far as I'm concerned I would instantly reject any policy which covered off piste "as long as you're sensible". When will somebody get offered a policy which will cover whatever happens "unless you're unlucky"?
If in France, and if in doubt, taking Carré/Carte Neige is a low cost, sensible, thing to do. If you need a team to dig you out, and a helicopter to get your body down, you family won't be faced with the bill like that of a young man (or was it two?) killed in Tignes some years ago.
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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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When I was off-piste skiing, the best non weasel worded policy was from the British Mountaineering Council. The cost depended on what you were doing - as well as the usual factors such as age.
It was expensive, but it also looked sound.
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Staysure have just updated their FAQ regarding avalanche cover today (Sun 28 Jan at 16:46 hrs)
https://help.staysure.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/8714480448017-If-there-is-an-avalanche-risk-will-I-still-be-covered-
They confirm that you won’t be covered if you take part in activities in areas classified as avalanche rating 3 or above. The exact written response is as follows:
"You will need our optional Winter Sports Cover, which you can add on when you buy a policy or if you have purchased a policy, you can add this on through your online account before you travel.
You will only be covered by your winter sports travel insurance if resort authorities classify avalanche risk as 1 or 2. You won’t be covered if you take part in activities in areas classified as avalanche rating 3 or above.
Resort authorities classify avalanche risk as follows:
1 = Low
2 = Moderate
3 = Considerable
4 = High
5 = Very High."
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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That's odd wording. It might suggest that you won't be covered at all for winter sports if the avalanche risk is above 2. Some redrafting required, I think. It's ambiguous, to say the least.
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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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@Scrunch77, I can't quite figure out what they've changed in that response but it's either completely useless as an explanation of their cover or confirms that their cover is worthless.
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@Origen and @sugarmoma666, it would be foolish to take out cover with Staysure, for sure! But their policy has been like that for some years according to other threads on this site.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
You will only be covered by your winter sports travel insurance if resort authorities classify avalanche risk as 1 or 2.
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That's what it says. It would be interesting to hear from somebody who understands the small print of avalanche warnings. This link doesn't suggest that avalanche warnings don't apply to ALL the resort, including pistes (though obviously considerable efforts will be made to protect pistes, there are no guarantees). https://www.avalanches.org/standards/avalanche-danger-scale/
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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 can honestly vouch for the yorkshire bank/virgin money account insurance, first hand.
MrsHD broke her wrist ice skating in Sestriere whilst we were on a skiing holiday and they were faultless. We've never shopped anywhere else.
I also claimed a small (£400) amount from my injury in Cervinia in 2023, again faultless.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Has anyone found an insurance policy that acts as a 'top up' to an existing policy?
I already have family cover with the Nationwide FlexPlus account which is, as others have noted, generally well-operated. It covers off-piste *with a guide* so I'm looking to see if there is a way that I can top up this cover with some specific cover for a week (the GhnarliBuG) where I'm hoping to pop off the side of the piste even on those days without a guide/instructor.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@tomj, short answer - no, such a thing does not exist. You would need to buy a whole separate policy.
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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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I've bought Snowcard before for a single trip and adjusted all the travel parts like luggage, cancellation, etc to £0 and only set the stuff specific to the activity. That was for MTB though as annual insurance I had wouldn't cover anything other than tarmac only really.
Some years ago now though.
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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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@tomj, As has been noted here many times before being a member of the Alpenverein (Austrian Alpine Club in the UK) provides exactly this. It covers you for any sort of rescue during a sporting activity, no restrictions about guides, off piste etc, etc. The medical cover is very much a top up to your existing health cover you should not rely on just that. If you are going to be going above 6000m or spending an extended period away (I think more than 6 months) then you need to contact their insurance company to get a specific quote but otherwise all included in the membership. See https://www.alpenverein.at/portal_wAssets/docs/service/versicherung/AWS-Folder_E_2023_ebook.pdf
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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’ve got standard travel insurance cover including winter sports through mybank account, plus my EHIC card - and I also have snowrisk cover on my season pass for €59 for the season. I’ve never really looked at the cover before but it’s pretty good - full actual cost of rescue in France, or €15k in CH, €3k of medical cover, and for any activity other than mountaineering (so off piste ok). Now the medical cover isn’t much, but GHIC would cover a chunk of other cost, wouldn’t it? https://gap.gritchen.fr/partenaire/produits/MONTAGNE/cga.php?produit=snowrisk_saison_famille&lang=en
Have also just checked my Halifax account cover and it says 31 days of winter sports cover inc off piste « within the resort boundaries « - but also covers ski touring!
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FAQ
