Gold credit cards and insurance in France

A snowHead

Does anyone have any info on this. We use a Nationwide credit card on hols [no transaction charges] which happens to be a Gold card. When we bought our passes this Christmas, we were offered the inevitable 'assurance' then when the woman saw the Gold card she said , oh that was ok it was insured [or words to that effect]. We then had a similar experience with the skihire shop when we picked up our hire skis.

Has anyone else had this happen and if so what's the deal in France?

A snowHead

MarjMJ, if you had the misfortune to need evacuation off the hill I very much doubt the pisteurs would have treated your gold card in the same way as the Carre Neige policy that you can buy with your lift pass.

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

MarjMJ, Check the small print very carefully - especially for what it says about off-piste skiing. Then, if it ticks all the boxes, still buy Carre Neige.

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MarjMJ, Well, there's NO travel insurance included on a Nationwide Gold Card. You do however get Travel Accident Insurance (which is an entirely different beast) Travel Accident Cover – This insurance is free to Nationwide credit card customers. It provides a lump sum benefit following accidental death or bodily injury due to an accident whilst travelling anywhere in the world on transport paid for using a Nationwide credit card. Full details are contained in the policy document.. Are you under the impression that you have travel insurance with the card? Check your documents, but I don't think you do.

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Here is a link to the policy wording: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/pdf/creditcard/P4553-CCard.pdf

It specifically relates to injury "while travelling". I would be surprised if that included skiing, but it doesn't include or exclude it.

Whilst you may be covered for a defined injury or death, it doesn't necessarily cover you for medical expenses or evacuation.

Under the payment protection it specifically says "purchase" and does not mention hire - so again I doubt if hire is covered unless you view it as a "purchase of ski hire".

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MarjMJ, given the reports of French Pisteurs behaviour if I were skiing in France I would always buy Carre Neige, Pisteurs seem to completely ignore any other form of insurance and will apparently demand cash for getting you off the slope without it Shocked

By comparrison everything I've heard about the Swiss seems to indicate that they will rescue you first and send the bill later (unless they think you might run off without paying which I've only heard of once)

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Is there an Italian equivalent to Carre Neige ?

After all it is free

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MarjMJ,

Possibly the gold card insures you for loss of the lift pass but not the medical bit?

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God you've all scared me now! And thanks for the links to the card pages. As usual, who reads the small print...
Embarassed

Bode Swiller said,

MarjMJ, Carre Neige basically covers getting you from your acciden location on the snow to I think your first point of treatment, it's not an insurance for loss of ski pass or theft of gear thing, however it apparently does make things easier should you need to be taken from the slopes in an emergency, it doesn't cost much either so it's probably worth it for peace of mind.

Unfortunately whilst what davidof, says is undoubtedly true there will always be a few people who break the rules.

You know it makes sense.

In Chamonix, at New Year, there didn't seem to be the option of buying a lift pass with or without Carre Niege. During our week my wife twisted her knee and, due to high winds, needed to get from Flegere to Brevent to get down the mountain. The pistuers organised a snow mobile relay and queue jumped her at the cable car from Flegere to Brevent. The journey took just over an hour. The standard pass (€193 Cham Le Pass) covered all of this at no charge.

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

bar shaker, sounds like you were charged for Carre Neige, even though you didn't ask for it. I've always been asked if I want to include insurance when buying passes.

A snowHead

Just look it up and THIS answers my question.

*edit* Errr no it doesn't.

THIS OTHER link implies that we should have paid extra. We didn't. They checked my wife's lift pass and confirmed that her recovery to Brevent was free.

I see from this site that a helivac is €654. Its not actually as expensive as I thought. Our insurance does cover us for such rescues, if required. [looks for wood to touch]

A snowHead

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

Lizzard,

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davidof, Well, several years on, and my collarbone is almost back to normal, (still a little displacement at the shoulder) albeit a different shape. I kept the letter from the VT Mayor's office, in which he called me and my OH liars, telling us what my OH had seen at close quarters did not happen. He also said that he liked things just the way they were and could see no reason for change. My Insurer was very well aware of the problems faced by their clients at that resort, notorious possibly. If the man at the top is running a tight ship what chance does a foreigner have to prove anything took place.

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Boredsurfing, that thread was about a private ambulance company. Secouristes who refused to remove in injured person from the piste would be a) sacked and b) arrested. Not to mention c) sadistic weirdos.

It's true to say that a lot of ambulance companies/doctors etc will ask foreigners for payment or proof of an ability to pay early on in the process because in the past plenty of them have absconded back home without stumping up and it isn't easy to chase people across borders and in a foreign language.

After all it is free

So, would I be right in asking that you'd get some extra piece of paper when you bought your skipass that you'd somehow be able to wave in the face of the pisteur to drag your crumpled body onto the blood wagon?

No one has answered why the ski shop woman had the same idea - or have I missed the point [before the thread becomes a slog out for good/bad piste rescue experiences!]

MarjMJ, some French gold cards/other credit cards offer piste rescue and ski breakage insurance. Not all of them though, contrary to what lots of their holders believe - there are dozens of French skiers out there who are going to get a nasty shock when they need to be rescued.

If you buy insurance with your pass, this will be printed on both the pass itself and the receipt which goes with it.

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davidof, that would be handy information if I actually had to pay for my lift pass!

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julesb was recently transferred from Briancon to Grenoble by private ambulance. Although the staff did ask if we had insurance, and I actually sorted things out on the 2 hour journey, when I told them I hadn't called the insurers yet, they said 'health first, payment later' and would have sent us a bill. Instead, I called the insurers, and sorted everything out, but on no occasion were we asked for cash, credit cards or even proof of insurance, all we were asked for was the EHIC card byt the reception at the casualty department.

Helen Beaumont, that's kind of exactly what I would expect to happen...How's he doing?

You know it makes sense.

MarjMJ, really well thanks.

Help!!

Gold credit cards and insurance in France

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