Ski Insurance
for skiing and snowboarding holidays
If you are going skiing or boarding, you need to buy special
insurance – and pay more – to cover you against
the greater likelihood and cost of your claim, and also
for particular expenses related to a skiing trip.
As well
as the kind of cover you get with a standard travel insurance
policy, you should also be covered for:
• Mountain rescue if you have an accident and are
too badly hurt to get off the mountain under your own steam
• The cost of refunding ‘pre-paid expenses’
(such as your ski pass, ski and boot hire and lessons) if
you have to cancel you holiday or injury prevents you from
skiing
• Loss or theft of your ski pass
• Loss, theft or damage of hired ski equipment –
if your policy covers this, you do not need to buy the insurance
offered by the hire shop
• Extra expenses you incur as a result of being held
up by an avalanche on the way to the resort
• The cost of having hire skis and boots while you
wait for your own to turn up
• The cost of being transported to another resort
if there is not enough snow at yours
• Piste closure – although this usually means
all lifts being closed for more than 24 hours, which is
very unlikely.
If you take your own skis and boots, they should be included
under the ‘Money and personal belongings’ part
of the policy but the cover may not be enough, and there
may be unreasonable exclusions such as covering you for
theft or loss only if your skis are safely locked away in
a ski locker or locked to a ski rack on top of the car.
You should avoid any policy that has these types of exclusion
because you would not be covered if your skis were stolen
when propped up outside a mountain restaurant while you
had lunch, for example. It is also worth checking whether
the cost of hiring skis would be covered if yours were lost,
damaged or stolen.
Insurers also vary in their attitude to other ways of hurtling
down the slopes and you are more likely to be covered for
the following activities if you are accompanied by a trained
instructor or guide. However, if you fancy trying any of
the following, check your policy carefully to make sure
you are covered for:
• Snowboarding
• Racing
• Mono-skiing
• Tobogganing
• Skiing off-piste
• Heli-skiing
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