The Insurance Minefield ~ Chapter 2

snowcrazy2005 wrote:Ally, first may I thaank you for finding those links, whilst I did thank someone else for finding them I did not use your name as I did not know if you would want me to on another forum. But thanks again, they had some very interesting stuff.

Snowcrazy, those are SwingBeep's links, not mine. I hardly know anything about going off-piste, or avalanche warnings, whereas clearly SwingBeep knows a great deal about it and has been kind enough to post some of his knowledge up for the rest of us to share.

Ally

Thanks for the correction, I have edited my last post. I got confused with the names at the top of the post.

Hi Bandit

This is Chris from Henry's Avalanche Talk. I am doing our investigations into insurance questions for off-piste skiers. and have been talking with Snowcard.

They were asking me where these quotes came from. This is lifted from one of your earlier posts

Next on the list are Fortis. Here is what they had to say. They are the underwriters for the BMC and Snowcard.

One.
'We would consider off-piste skiing to be skiing in sparsely inhabited rural regions over ungroomed and unmarked slopes or pistes, including skiing in unmarked or unpatrolled areas within the ski resort's boundaries.'

Two'
'Local authority advice or restrictions must be followed, along with all relevant safety recommendations.'

Three.
'Any avalanche warnings must be adhered to at all levels, therefore skiing in any level of avalanche warning could prejudice your claim.'

So they will cover off piste, but look at the wording of No. Two and Three. How much more vague can you get. If you take each of these then, you must carry all safety gear as this is normally recommended and you cannot ski anywhere the resort says is closed or you should not go.

Plus if there is any 'avalanche warning' could prejudice your claim. So how can you ski off piste anyway. There is never a zero level as far as I have ever seen.

They have been asked to clarify what these comments mean, but so far no response although they have said that these conditions apply to both the BMC and Snowcard policy. From what I have read neither of those policies say exactly what they have stated.

Was this a phone conevrsation or was it put in writing by them and if in writing, do you know who sent it to you? they do not recognise these criteria and would like to investigate it themselves.

They have already made the point to me that whilst Fortis underwrite many different policies. The terms and conditions vary for each policy even with the same underwriter.

Thanks for your help?

Chris

Hi Chris
The quote came from the Facebook Group's findings. I don't know if it was in writing or by phone. I'm not surprised that Snowcard don't recognise it, as it is quoted as being direct from their Underwriters, Fortis.

This is the link to the Facebook page which carries the details. No login is needed. You could ask Jason who made the entry via the page.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=134900026541300&topic=150

I used to be a Snowcard client. Their Underwriters dropped my cover for 1 knee simply because I was having a private MRI Scan. They were quite slow (reluctant?) at reinstating cover once I'd had the all clear. Not really what I was expecting for a policy costing close on £200.

I realize it's going slightly 'off-piste' but while we're all reading the small print on our insurance policies there's something else I'd like to point out.

They are also tightening up on what they consider to be 'pre-existing conditions'. I was enquiring about travel insurance from the NFU for a relative, and they said that because she's on statins from her GP they would consider her to have a heart condition and therefore they wouldn't cover her for this, although in fact her heart is fine and she's only on statins because the doctor thought it would be a good idea considering her age.

The NFU said that if you are taking prescribed medication then they consider you are suffering from whatever the medication is normally prescribed for and hence won't insure you for it.

So, in this case, I would think if you were off piste with a whole gang of you all equipped with shovels and what-not and you were on statins and you had a heart attack you wouldn't be covered.

However, this advice was verbal, and I haven't had it in writing from the underwriters or anything, so it may not be true, but I did find it very worrying.

Some insurers, like Saga, will give cover for notified pre-existing conditions, but they are a lot more expensive.

Maybe the ski resorts should introduce compulsory rescue insurance (including for off-piste) and add it to the price of the lift pass, so that we all know we're covered. As I said before, I buy the Carre Neige insurance anyway in France to top up my British travel insurance. I don't know if there is a similar insurance scheme in the other ski countries.

Ally

Maybe the ski resorts should introduce compulsory rescue insurance (including for off-piste) and add it to the price of the lift pass, so that we all know we're covered.

Brilliant idea IMHO. :thumbup:

If such an Insurance were to be offered, it would be exceedingly important to check the small print on your own policy to see if cover was available for the ongoing costs and logistics after being recovered from an incident off piste.
I suspect that many policies, if they do not cover the activity, would not cover other costs incurred as a result of an accident whilst engaging in that activity.

Hmmm - just for me to be clear in my simple mind - are you saying that if the accident were sustained off piste, and your own policy (not Ally's lift pass insurance) didn't cover off piste skiing, that they could refuse to cough up on medical expenses etc?

Bugger. That's a good point. Back to square one. Just when the problem was solved too! :cry: