 Poster: A snowHead
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Hells Bells, yay, more common sense! 
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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 Guys.
Whilst not the expected outcome from the OP, mainly due to the last few posts I'll stick with the [UK] insurance I have, and not bother with CN (or anything similar) this season.
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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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| Lizzard wrote: |
Thornyhill, you need to read the rest of the thread, becuse I'm not about to post it all again. See link to Carte Neige policy conditions on page 1. |
I've read all the thread and most of the links. Now I know that I know less than I think I knew. I have an annual family travel insurance with winter sports cover. It covers evacuation, medical expenses and repatriation (along with all the other bits and pieces.) However, I can't work out if Carte Neige is something additional you need to ski in France. (like you used to need a green card and a bail bond certificate from your car insurance company to drive in Spain. Not sure if this is similar to Carte Neige)
To simplify - If I have travel insurance that covers us in The States, Andorra, Austria and Italy, would I be daft not to have Carte Neige as well? From what I have read, it seems not, but I could be reading it wrong
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thornyhill, This is the first year I'm opting out of CN.... this year I'll only be doubly insured!!
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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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| Quote: |
However, I can't work out if Carte Neige is something additional you need to ski in France. (like you used to need a green card and a bail bond certificate from your car insurance company to drive in Spain.
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No, it isn't. It's just something extra you buy if you want to. If it was compulsory it would hardly generate all this "should I or shouldn't I" agonising, would it?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| Hells Bells, yay, more common sense! |
Sons skied with CN last winter though, via their Holiski card, as they weren't covered by our annual policy.
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| Quote: |
It covers evacuation, medical expenses and repatriation (along with all the other bits and pieces.)
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In that case you are adequately insured.
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However, I can't work out if Carte Neige is something additional you need to ski in France.
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No, it isn't. It's just a French insurance policy aimed primarily at French skiers who have French health insurance and are skiing within France.
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(like you used to need a green card and a bail bond certificate from your car insurance company to drive in Spain. Not sure if this is similar to Carte Neige)
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The green card/bail bond was a legal requirement back in the day. You are at liberty to ski in France without any insurance whatsoever, should you choose to do so. this may or may not be a good idea, depending on how much money you have.
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If I have travel insurance that covers us in The States, Andorra, Austria and Italy, would I be daft not to have Carte Neige as well?
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No. Assuming said policy also allows you to ski in France, obviously (but why wouldn't it?). Read your policy. If you were happy with the cover it gave you in Andorra, Italy etc there's no reason why you shouldn't be happy with it in France as well.
There's nothing special or different about the insurance regime in France. Sometimes you may have to pay up front for certain services, depending on whether or not the provider accepts the guarantee from your insurer's assistance company. So what? You're a British adult, you have a credit card. Buy insurance from the ticket window by all means (in fact I love it if you do because it makes my figures look good at the end of the season). But you don't need it.
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One reason I got the CN for my kids with their Holiski card was that on occasions they ski without us. Both were students with no money in their accounts during holidays. At least if they had an accident and we were not with them, there wouldn't be any risk of them having to produce a credit card.
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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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| Lizzard wrote: |
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There's nothing special or different about the insurance regime in France. |
Cheers Lizzard - That was the answer to the question that I was thinking about, but failed to ask 
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We got annual UK travel insurance but we were unable to get any cover for all our seasons skiing - the best policy we could find had a 60 day single trip limit, we may do 72 days - hence we want to get Carte Neige. I'd rather do this in resort, whereabouts do you go in Tignes Le Lac?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Pete Horn, I have that problem too, but the 62 day limit on our Amex insurance does the job because we come home for the crowded French holiday weeks.
However, don't forget that all other aspects of your annual travel insurance will probably be invalidated if your trip is over 60 days.
A cheap flight home to see friends and relations - hire a car for a couple of days - might be worth considering.
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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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pam w, I'm with Amex too, they've not been mentioned in any of the insurance threads....
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pam w, Thanks, we are aware of that, but there's nothing that cheap about cheap flights IMO by the time you've added the extras on, though the main expense may be getting to Chambery airport from Tignes on a mid-week day.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Lizzard, My girlfriend has already arranged the insurance and I thought she had tried that link and didn't come up with anything suitable. [Edit: we couldn't get annual insurance that also covered the whole of this trip, only single trip insurance, hence we are going for Carte Neige, or a visit home.]
SCGB would have worked last year but they've withdrawn their seasonnaires option for this year, or rather their brokers have.
The question remains, whereabouts in Tignes do you go to buy Carte Neige?
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Pete Horn wrote: |
| whereabouts do you go in Tignes Le Lac? |
I bought mine at the Maison du Tourisme (the main office on the snowfront, opposite the Aeroski gondola).
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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 Rob.
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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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Lizzard, After the details I have heard about Fogg, and what has been posted about there replies to what they will and will not cover this year. I would not advise anyone to use them. With the BMC, SCGB and Insure and go, anyone thinking of using them, read the small print. They all have a number of get out clauses.
Did anyone see the documentary that included details of how poor travel insurance really is when you need to get a payout. Think it was on BBC yesterday. Very interesting. They had the Director for the Travel Insurance Industry society answering questions. He agreed that over 50% of people that make claims were unhappy with the results or something like that. Also he tried to say that the wording was clear and easy to understand, but when given examples had to admit that policy wording does need to be easier to understand.
Anyone else see the programme. I only caught part of it.
Pete Horn, I got mine a couple of years back up at the Val Claret office. So you should be ok at either end, depends where you are staying.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've made very few claims - but been very happy with the way they've been dealt with. Just two I think - both snowcard. One boring normal kind of ACL accident (daughter in law) and once when our house at home lost half its roof in a freak tornado. My mother had to get in touch with hers, when they were staying with us abroad, as her brother was taken very ill and was thought to be dying. She contacted the company, who explained exactly what to do if she needed to travel, and reassured her that they could get her home very quickly. In the end he recovered and only died about a year later - but the kind and effective response from the company gave her great peace of mind.
They're not all bad. And I dare say there are a whole lot of shysters out there trying out what they think are clever tricks to defraud insurance companies.
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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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snowcrazy, I wasn't recommending any of those companies, merely saying that they all do longer term cover. I've never needed to buy UK ski insurance and haven't claimed from a Uk insurer either, have nothing to say about the pros and cons of individual companies.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Will it cover you for repatriation if you are in a resort for more than 31 days?
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Not if you don't live in metropolitan France. They refused repatriation to one of my staff a few years ago because of that. If you're using it for a full season in Les Arcs, you aren't covered for repatriation.
Don't know about leaving resort and coming back though - I suspect they would take the view that if you had accommodation/ajob there for the season then you're there for the whole period and the 31 day rule would apply.
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Lizzard, Not sure if that would be correct in law, as it says you must not be in resort for more than 31 consecutive days, nothing about going away and coming back for another few weeks as many of us do. I rarely if ever do 31 consecutive days as I go and visit other places for a few days or even a week during any month.
So I do wonder. They can only abide by what they have written at the end of the day. I shall have to ask around to see if anyone here knows now we are all skiing again from tomorrow.
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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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snowcrazy, if I was injured enough to need repatriation I wouldn't want to be having that sort of argument, personally. In a foreign language.
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As promised, we've got Carte Neige today - no Doctors note needed.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| alti - dude wrote: |
| As promised, we've got Carte Neige today - no Doctors note needed. |
To buy or to claim?
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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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To buy - think the start of the thread suggested you needed a Doctor's note (or the promise to send one) when buying. I suspect there might be some normal pre existing condition exclusions on claims which I would check out if you have some 'history' eg if you have had heart trouble and then have a heart attack on the slope then there may be a bit of a problem on the insurance. Whilst my propensity to try to ski in a manner which is somewhat above my ability is a pre existing condition (and one to which there is no known cure), I am hopeful that there isn't and exclusion for that.
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| alti - dude wrote: |
| To buy - think the start of the thread suggested you needed a Doctor's note (or the promise to send one) when buying. |
Yup, exactly what it says on the web site..
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You know it makes sense.
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alti - dude, yeah, we just renewed ours at the ESF in Samoens, no doctor's note needed.
It's accident insurance FFS, pre-existing medical conditions have little to do with it.
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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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BUMP
| rob@rar wrote: |
| bar shaker wrote: |
| Glad that's cleared so and I am much better off with my existing insurance. |
I suppose it depends on how you define "much better off". I have both Carte Neige and an annual travel policy. It's fair to say that's a bit "belt 'n braces", but if I'm being evacuated off the hill the last thing I want to do is mess around with pre-payment, form-filling, phoning insurance company, etc. I just want to produce my Carte Neige policy and for that to be it. I've seen a couple of occasions when it was just too much hassle for the injured party without Carte Neige for me to worry about being a little bit over-insured.
The cost of the Carte Neige policy buys me lots of peace of mind, and for me I'm better off with it. |
I have taken same view as rob@rar and decided to top up my annual policy with the Carte Neige (Loisirs option). I followed the link provided by Lizzard above and it seemed to go through OK (I opted for a 'local' club with no subscription so no extras!
Hopefully the membership card will arrive before PSB11 but if not they have provided me with an email in its place.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I take it the Carrte Neige only works in France ? Isn't there an Austrian equivalent I seem to recall being mentioned on here ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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deerman, It's global
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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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| Lizzard wrote: |
| ......if you decide to do an Arno and bog off into the wild blue backcountry yonder you don't actually need any insurance for helicopter rescue as it's done by the emergency services and is therefore free. |
OTOH according to pistehors whether you have costs to bear depends on whether the area you have an accident is deemed to be part of a ski area
| pistehors wrote: |
This leads to the somewhat strange circumstance that, say you are in Courchevel and climbing the ridge to descend the Col du Fruit, if you fall into the Creux bowl you will have to pay to be rescued by the pisteurs from the resort and if you fall into the Valley du Fruit a helicopter will be scrambled and you will be recovered totally free of charge. When you consider a helicopter costs around 2500 Euros per hour and a search and rescue could take several days and involve hundreds of trained personnel in the worst case this is just as well.
...............
Savoie Bandit Country - Update November 2008
Despite a circular from outgoing Prime Minister asking communities in the Savoie not to invoice backcountry travellers for rescue costs the practise continues. We were recently contacted by a ski tourer who had an accident in the Vanoise National Park, suffering a leg injury. She was rescued by the CRS (Police) using a helicopter hired from the SAF. The CRS, stationed at their advanced base at Courchevel, have an SAF helicopter on lease. The SAF have been officially included in the Savoie Departments Rescue Plan. If you are rescued by this helicopter the commune where you had an accident will try and recover costs from you. We know of other recent cases. Remember also that the rescue services won't pick up all of your ski gear, a pair of touring skis could cost well over 500 euros to replace.
The families of the two young lads killed by an avalanche in Tignes are still battling to get the Insurance companies to pick up the bill, again the SAF helicopter was involved in the search operation. This case clearly illustrates that you must have sufficient cover for your activity. Most winter sports insurances continue to put some kind of exclusions on what they consider to be high risk activities. (see this thread for more info: http://pistehors.com/news/forums/viewthread/190/) |
So it looks like Lizzard's assertion could be wrong, depending on chance, as far as the average back-country skier is concerned.
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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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A question to anyone who's orderered it online, what did you put as 'Sélection du département' in the online ordering process?
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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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achilles,
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OTOH according to pistehors whether you have costs to bear depends on whether the area you have an accident is deemed to be part of a ski area
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Which even if you read the small print is never actually defined with any sense for Europe.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| TotallyBoard wrote: |
| A question to anyone who's orderered it online, what did you put as 'Sélection du département' in the online ordering process? |
If you select 73 it will return clubs in that area. I think they receive a small kick back. you then have to pay a subscription fee on top, but if you scan the list there is at least one with no fee!
worked for me 
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I've just this minute bought on the site, not being too mean, I opted for one of the 'cheaper' clubs on 73.
andyman - how long does it take to come through?
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The drs note thing is required for all competitive club memberships in France - had to provide for my fencing club when I'm out there to get the competition licence. I would imagine that as the carte neige is theoretically through a club, it has that default, but it is definitely a competition thing in France. Have occasionally been asked for a Drs note while checking in for comps in France, but managed not to have to provide by showing my UK licence.
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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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How splendid, as were are renewing ours, it didn't require us to send a Drs note, even though when we bought them (again) in Samoens Ski Club last year we didn't need a Drs note in the first place.
So just done online.
And it was €14 cheaper than last year... 
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FAQ
Question: Will it cover you for repatriation if you are in a resort for more than 31 days? 
