Choosing The Correct Insurance Policy When Skiing Off Piste-The Insurance Minefield

EmmaEvs There seems to be a significant lack of understanding over what skiing (all types) is about on the part of many of these companies.

I would add to your summary from my personal perspective:

Some policies say no cover without a Ski Instructor present. Okay, so that means, if you are with a qualified High Mountain Guide you'd be way safer, but are not insured... most are not Ski Instructors. :roll:

If it's not listed in the Policy no cover exists.

I gave up asking Direct Travel because they seem to believe that "someone in authority" will come along and "open" the mountain as if it was a Theme Park. Of the list of suitable people they offered, again Ski Instructors were mentioned.

They are far from qualified and not trained to make a judgement like that. Notwithstanding that the mountains are never "closed" and no-one with the "authority" to open them exists in Europe.

It's as if the Insurers and their Underwriters have decided that the Holy Trinity will be the answer to their profit margins. They might do better working with one of the training companies to make sure that folks can actually use the stuff, and issue a Certificate of Competence. Carrying the kit is all very well, and looks proper rad in the restaurant at lunchtime :mrgreen:

If you think you can be of any help with this mess, your efforts will be gratefully received by thousands of UK skiers.

:D

If you think you can be of any help with this mess, your efforts will be gratefully received by thousands of UK skiers.

:shock: Sweet Jesus... the pressure... :lol:

Some policies say no cover without a Ski Instructor present.

Hopefully you can write them off then without only leaving one (or less) companies in the running. I guess the first step is to skim away the co.s with no hope of delivering what you're looking for.

If it's not listed in the Policy no cover exists.

Ok.

(Ski Instructors)... are far from qualified and not trained to make a judgement like that.

Not a problem. Speaking to a Ski Inst is pretty easy, particularly if it means you get to tick a box and make your life easier. If you prefer to get additional advice from someone who knows better there's nothing stopping you.

the mountains are never "closed"

True. The ins. co. could then only latch on to something specific like skiing a closed run. I've read reference to this in the threads and need to understand more I think...

...the Holy Trinity...

Yeah I reckon you're right, it probably does look impressive at lunchtime :lol: Whether people are able to use them or not isn't your concern though, as long as your mates can, and it keeps the suits happy :D

I've PM'd you too, just to run some things past...

It is definitly worth looking at the swiss "glacier assurance". It can be bought from any post offices and is only about £30. It will cover your extraction from the mountain no matter when you are. It is not an insurance policy for injuries or medical. It will just get you off the mountain.

leavesj wrote:It is definitly worth looking at the swiss "glacier assurance". It can be bought from any post offices and is only about £30. It will cover your extraction from the mountain no matter when you are. It is not an insurance policy for injuries or medical. It will just get you off the mountain.

Do you mean this?

http://www.air-glaciers.ch/

This costs Sfr 35 per person for a year.

I'm not sure I've seen one in Swiss Post Offices, do you have any more details please?

That is exactly the right insurance policy and it can be bought from the post offices in Switzerland. It doesn't just cover Switzerland, but think it is limited to Europe. I have friends that ski about 8 weeks a year in Switzerland and they swear by it.

leavesj wrote:That is exactly the right insurance policy and it can be bought from the post offices in Switzerland. It doesn't just cover Switzerland, but think it is limited to Europe. I have friends that ski about 8 weeks a year in Switzerland and they swear by it.

I have a policy, but purchase it online :D It does not solve the sticky issue of repatriation for non Switzerland/Lichtenstein resident policyholders though, so some sort of travel insurance is also needed AFAICT.

leavesj wrote:That is exactly the right insurance policy and it can be bought from the post offices in Switzerland. It doesn't just cover Switzerland, but think it is limited to Europe. I have friends that ski about 8 weeks a year in Switzerland and they swear by it.

I'm not sure it's a great idea to recommend insurance where the policy is written in another language. There's a danger you're not understanding the conditions. Air Glaciers insurance is only valid in Switzerland for foreigners, it would not cover you for Europe. I'm pretty certain it's not for sale in the Post Office either, you're thinking of Rega I think which is similar.

As for off piste insurance in general, no insurer is obliged to cover anyone if they don't want to. If I were buying insurance for a ski holiday I'd not be impressed my premiums were paying for someone who'd got out of their depth and needed a helicopter rescue. If I were offering insurance I'd not cover random people to engage in a high risk activity without some indication they were competent.

And if I were offering insurance I'd be alarmed by the number of people, armed with fat skis and egged on by internet forums and videos, in places they lacked the skills to be. I'd structure my polices to make sure I'd not be paying out for their stupidity and focus my product on the vast majority of holidaymakers who behave sensibly and need cover for things actually out of their control like cancelled flights and lost luggage. And when people accused my imaginary insurance company of not understanding skiing I'd have a damn good laugh and reflect that the thing about an idiot stick is to be quite sure which end the idiot is on.

If you think Air Glaciers or REGA will cover you for rescue if you've been reckless in any way then you're mistaken, they won't and you'll get a bill. You might find that the Swiss have a bit a higher bar as well when it comes to working out who's competent to be somewhere.

ise, this thread was born out of the need to gain clarification in Policy wordings. My own insurer, (for Europe) believes that someone in authority will be along to "open" the off piste each day. Amongst the list of those they consider of suitable stature to perform this task, are ski instructors. This I have in writing.

Now I know instructors are very good at the job they do, but this is not really on their remit, and to me shows a lack of understanding by the Insurance seller. It's 1 brief example of the need for everyone to get clarification.
The Insurance industry is adversarial IMHO, based my experience after injury. We read a Policy wording one way, the Insurer means something quite different.