Scottish Independence and Skiing

Whilst confident that the great nation with the best mountains in the British Isles will make the right decision, Scottish skiers should probably take note of a couple of news items to hit our desk in the past day or so... or maybe they'll be left scratching their heads like us...

So...

MPI Brokers – the Ski and Travel Insurance specialists wrote:If the Scots vote for independence from the UK this Thursday it is a possibility they will no longer be able to continue using the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), as it's a European Union benefit, paying for some medical treatment in public hospitals overseas.

The effect of this will be increased costs of medical treatment in Europe and thus a corresponding increase in Travel Insurance premiums. Skiers will be particularly badly hit as, unlike Travel Insurance, medical claims for Ski Travel Insurance represent around 60% of the total payouts.

...and...

Chemmy Alcott wrote:It has got me thinking, Now that I am married to a Scot, I'm wondering if it would mean I could compete in another winter category for Scotland

So there you have it, vote YES and (maybe) gain Chemmy but pay more for your insurance!

Were there any other issues to consider?

Yes, this is Michael Pettifer putting out a warning. I reminded him that AFAIK, the current EHIC in Scotland would be valid until 24 March 2016, and thereafter, it depends if Scotland have joined the EU.

And so it came to pass, the No vote prevailed, hence no change ~ yet.
Should the UK decide, by either by referendum, or by a UKIP win, to leave the EU, then I guess the EHIC would be invalid.

However, the world does not stop spinning, we still buy our travel insurance, and market forces will bring the price to a level where there is not a significant difference.

Interestingly the locals at all Scottish ski areas voted to stay in the UK except for the Glasgow indoor snow centre 'Snow Factor' (and the Glasgow dry slopes). Snow Factor offered free skiing on referendum day (without any nationality requirements).

There's no reason why there wouldn't be reciprocal agreement negotiated on healthcare provision between the UK and EU if we left. Switzerland isn't an EU member but EHIC is valid there.

God - we are a myopic group. The Scottish people come within a whisker of one of the most monumentous decisions of the last 100 years, if not longer, and all we worry about is whether our EHIC cards will still be effective :oops: :oops: :oops:

It reminds me of a rather crass study that the OECD carried out a few years ago into the effects of climate change on the ski industry. The study concluded something along the lines that a 2 degree increase in temperature would basically ruin all skiing below 2,000m or most of the resorts in the Alps. While this may well be true, it ignored the fact that such an increase in global temperatures would probably wipe out a large chunk of the world's population along the way :shock:. Low lying areas such as Bangladesh (and the South East of England) would probably be near permanently below water. Rather insensitive to be considering a leisure activity against that background :roll:.