Why Get Ski Insurance Cover?

Time and time again we get asked why it is important for people to take out insurance when there's the EHIC card to cover hospitalisation when you're abroad in Europe.

A good ski insurance policy will cover you for the journey from the slopes to the hospital, the hospital charges and then the additional expenses like the helicopter, a taxi cab from resort and even the 2 or 3 nights stay in hospital you may have. EHIC covers you for essential hospital charges - excluding drugs and painkillers you may need when you leave the safety of the hospital.

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Main Reasons to Insure Yourself

There are two main reasons why you need ski insurance. If you leave the UK, you should take out travel insurance of some kind, protecting yourself against medical bills, travel cancellation, accommodation problems and loss and theft of luggage and belongings. On top of this, ski resorts are some of the most dangerous places to go on holiday, and the nature of skiing and snowboarding mean the risk of injury is so much greater than a beach holiday or city break.

Ski insurance provides specialist travel insurance for your ski trip, and gives you extra medical bills cover, with the added risk of injury in mind, as well as providing specialist cover for your ski equipment, which is usually more expensive than the usual things you would take on holiday.

Whether you've been skiing before or not, the need for you to have sufficient medical cover has never been greater. If you've ever queried the need for specialist ski trip insurance (either for price or just to save time), then you only need to hear some of the stories about skiers being helicoptered off the slopes at their own cost (let's just say $3,000) to know a few hundred dollars for Personal Medical Cover has to be great for your piece of mind!

The nature of skiing and/or boarding means that accidents can and will happen. When they do, being half way up the side of the mountain is a distinct possibility! Whatever you make think, your normal travel insurance policy or cover will not cover winter sports, nor will it cover any medical or hospital costs incurred sorting you out.

What Specialist Insurance Cover?

With a basic winter sports policy you usually have three key areas covered as part of the policy :

1. Medical Expenses
2. Emergency Repatriation
3. Accidental Death

This means if you have a nasty accident half way up the mountain the following would all be covered :

• Emergency help on the piste
• Emergency airlift off the mountain
• Hospitalisation
• Medical treatment / operations
• All medicines
• Repatriation back to your home country

As you can see the cost of all those components would cripple many people/families and that's why you should never quibble over a few hundred dollars to cover yourself properly. It may never happen, but if it does, it's one less worry.

What Type of Injuries Does Insurance Cover?

Did you know that it's almost one in ten skiers (or boarders) that ends up injuring themselves on the slopes and therefore requires some sort of hospital treatment? It's am amazing statistic, but one that underlines the need for you to take this so seriously.

From broken fingers or thumbs, through to wrists, legs, hips and head injuries, injuries on the slopes is part and parcel of these sports. Of course, there are lots of smaller injuries like sliced thumbs from a ski or board edge, twisting a knee or slipping on the ice outside a bar.

It is worth noting that many policies have a specific exclusion from your policy if you are drunk or have been drinking. So watch how much you have on the slopes as that may invalidate your insurance. One UK company has also announced that you will not be covered if you don't wear a helmet. We've written another article about that, but it's always worth reading all the terms and conditions carefully