 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm looking for a company to provide me with Winter Sport cover for a single trip to the Alps.
I would like it to cover off-piste and also offer a decent "maximum item value" for personal belongings and ski equipment.
I looked into https://www.direct-travel.co.uk who offer off-piste, but they have a limit of £200 per item and an excess of £75.
I'd ideally like something closer to a £500 limit per item to cover my ~£500 jacket, salopettes, ~£300 boots, high value skis, etc.
I'd also like it to offer helicopter evacutation.
Can anyone recommend anything?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you bank with Nat-West .. yoiu can get a "Black Account" ... which has a great ski insurance package built in.
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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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theLOLkid, I would imagine that direct travel would allow you to adjust limits and excess to suit you but there will likely be an adjustment to the premium. I can't recommend a particular product but I used www.travelsupermarket.com to obtain a quote. Quotes ranged from about £10 to around £70 all for a single trip to Europe. I picked a couple of quotes at random (towards the cheaper end  ) and looked at the policy documents to find the one that best suited me (well my pocket).
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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.
I used a price comparison website and Liverpool Victoria seems to be good in terms of the level of cover offered.
Their "Premier" policy offers:
- £3,000 limit with a single item limit of £500 (£50 excess)
- £500 replacement or hire essential baggage items while on a trip (no excess)
- £10M medical (£50 excess)
- £5000 cancellation / cancellation of activities cover (£50 excess)
- Winter sports cover inc. off-piste
It's £48 for a week, which is more expensive than the £20 I'd usually pay - but it seems pretty full featured. I just need to check that it includes helicopter evacuation.
Thoughts?
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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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theLOLkid, I very much doubt that you will find a policy offering helicopter evacuation. Most cover the cost of helicopter evacuation if the rescue services have deemed it necessary
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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DrLawn,
I have this cover from NatWest - but must admit that I'm not sure what is covered 
Really should look into the details. Is there any info online?
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boredsurfin: Yeah - that's what I meant. I just want it to cover evacuation costs deemed appropriate by rescue services.
Liverpool Victoria's £10M medical cover includes "for mountain search and rescue services if this is considered medically necessary" - which is fine by me.
I think I'll sign up to them.
FastCarver74: Thanks for those links but dogtag only cover clothing to maximum value of £100. skiinsurance.co also only offer single item personal possessions up to £250.
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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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Ski insurance covers 500 if you have deluxe policy
I love the wording on off piste qualified as long as you are not skiing in an avalance risk area.
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theLOLkid, direct travel do cover helivac
spoke to them yesterday regarding this, i've got the premier annual policy £66 for a 40 something  year old
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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mpi brokers also specifically state that helicopter rescue is included in their policy.
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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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Are there any policies which wouldn't cover helicopter rescue if the local rescue services deemed it necessary?
theLOLkid, why do you need to insure your salopettes?
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I love the wording on off piste qualified as long as you are not skiing in an avalance risk area
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 that's typical of lots of policies.
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Dont use the AA. They outsource claims handling to another company, Drakefield Insurance Services. My claim last year took 15 weeks of constant argument, including the memorable "Can you tell me how old your pyjamas were?" question. Even when they paid up I reckon they'd avoided over 30%+ of the losses for which they were liable. My house insurers paid their £2500 for a stolen camera within 2 weeks. I now insure with DirectTravel.
Plus we have an AirGlaciers heli-rescue policy for the family at CHF60/yr that is liable even if you're just stranded (a common exclusion to many policies, where you have to be injured*) and with unlimited call-out: I'm as likely to need heli-rescue walking in the Alps in the Summer as when skiing in the winter, so this works for us.
(*Consider the case of getting lost in the fog as a group, and then finding that you're in an impossible location where you can't go forwards, and the snow is too deep etc. to go back. You'll probably need helicopter evacuation. Insured or not, you'll have to pay up-front for rescue and then claim. It won't be 'till you get back that the claims handler will gleefully tell you that you're not going to get the £10,000 charges refunded because you weren't injured, or there's no record of the guide making the call, or whatever they can come up with).
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Fri 10-01-14 14:39; edited 2 times in total
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You know it makes sense.
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I have a similar question (apologies if I should have started a new thread, I'm new around here)...
I already have an annual travel insurance from Direct Line included "free" as part of my household insurance - but it only covers off-piste with a qualified instructor. So I'm wondering whether it's possible to get an 'off-piste without a guide' extension to cover those risks only for a single trip to Zermatt (Switzerland), as I already have the holiday cancellation / baggage etc cover as part of my annual travel cover, and don't really want to pay for double insurance.
I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
Cheers,
Mike
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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 think the problem with free cover is often in the exclusions and/or refund ceilings. And the policy statement are so complex that it's hard to work out 'what would happen if ....' My experience in claiming is that the first thing is to consider the refund ceilings then the exclusions. So, for example, my stolen passport cost me about £875 in direct costs (rail fare to UK Consulate, cheap hotel, meals, new passport) and that was when BA kindly let me reschedule my flight at no cost. the ceiling on the policy was £250. The camera that was stolen cost about £3500 to replace but the ceiling on any single item was £2500. And so on. This made me look at some of the AA exclusions and really, they were worryingly general e.g. for helicopter rescue (as mentioned) I had to be injured and the call-out had to come from a certified guide or lift representative. My overall conclusion was that you get what you pay for ..... cheap polices mean limited cover. Unfortunately, expensive policies don't necessarily mean extensive cover.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Fri 10-01-14 14:50; edited 2 times in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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the call-out had to come from a certified guide or lift representative
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would you expect to be allowed to hail one yourself, like a black cab, if you missed the last lift home?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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would you expect to be allowed to hail one yourself, like a black cab, if you missed the last lift home?
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No, but if I was stranded above a precipice after getting lost in the fog with no other option, then yes. But I appreciate that I have to pay for this, and do. What is of concern is that the exclusions are often not clear. All the advertising is about low cost.
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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 think you might find a helicopter pilot a tad reluctant to rescue an uninjured but navigationally challenged person who couldn't be too sure where he was, in the fog, whoever was paying. I can't imagine they'd take the slightest notice of anyone not qualified to call them in.
That would be a job for piste rescue (in resort) or mountain rescue, I imagine.
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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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We're probably in agreement. I can call AirGlaciers direct but the obvious thing would be to call the local SoS, as you say. Since there might be another option, or heli-rescue might not be physically feasible etc. I suppose what I'm saying is that it's worth reading the small print, however tedious it might be. And that free or very cheap policies are probably going to give limited cover.
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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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| would like it to cover off-piste |
Therein lies your first problem. You have to be very clear what is meant by that in the policy.
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| also offer a decent "maximum item value" for personal belongings and ski equipment. |
Getting new for old is the crucial part. If you don't have that it's pretty pointless IMO. If you do have it, it will be pricey. Most policies are not new for old.
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| I'd also like it to offer helicopter evacutation. |
The relevant rescue service will decide what is required. You don't need to worry about this.
Have a look at Snowcard. They allow to set your own limits and have several explicit levels of cover for on-piste, off piste, mountaineering, etc. That is who I use currently. I only insure for rescue, medical, legal. I self insure for cancellation, equipment, lift closure, etc. I have never had to make a claim from them but their communication is very good and annecdotally I've read they are very good.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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msej449, I was intrigued by the idea that you could whistle up a chopper for a few dollars a year, just because you were lost. Seemed a nice idea. But looking at the Air glaciers website, helicopter rescue is a bit more restricted than that - for injured persons (or those lost and in mortal danger, presumably), in Switzerland only, or air ambulance evacuation elsewhere on medical orders. And only if the costs were not admissable under any insurance policy - so if you had an ordinary sort of policy which included heli rescue, but the local rescue service didn't think a chopper was necessary, you could presumably not call in AirGlaciers as the cost your evacuation off the mountain would have been covered.
Always complicated when you are covered by more than one policy - though SG explicitly say they are not offering insurance and are not contractually obliged to do anything if it's not operationally feasible.
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.zellmaniac, The Natwest Black account does not cover off-piste
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FAQ
