The Insurance Minefield ~ Chapter 2

Carrying on from where we were, before admin, quite rightly, set a bomb off under Chapter 1! Bearing in mind my previous thread, "Kindness on J2ski", if anyone messes this up, goes off thread, is rude to someone….. I'm gonna kill ya! )
Seriously, this was/is an important topic, and was developing nicely.

It does seem evident that there are disparities between ski/board insurance offers, just as there are widely differing requirements. Insurance companies do not know about our individual capabilities or our specific needs, and yet they have to try to offer a product that covers all of us. Just think of the possible range of needs:
Beginners/intermediates/advanced/piste only/some near off piste/mostly off piste/back country.
It therefore follows that it is for us, as individuals to try and locate the insurance that suits us best.
Bandit & I are exploring Direct Travel, we have both used them in the past, as offering a common sense view of off-piste coverage ~ so far. Others will look for different coverage. You can follow the links on the original thread.

I have been through the Online Policy doc on the Direct-Travel website, to compare it to the Policy I have. I'm seeing that some of the excesses have risen (not by much). Not seeing much change in the body of the document.

I have also been looking at the BMC Policy (Fortis) in view of some extra time away I'd got planned. Not too keen at the moment because of this statement from the Underwriter, which is a bit of a deal breaker for skiers at every skill level.

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

:?

I have my ski insurance with the Post Office, and it says I am insured for:

'Skiing on or off piste (off-piste only with a qualified guide or instructor)'

Which I think is pretty clear. It also says I am insured for 'glacier walking', 'downhill skiing' and 'mogul skiing'.

It cost £65 for my daughter and myself for 12 months cover.

But I have never had to claim anything on it, so far :D

Ally

AllyG, so is that Glacier Walking with or without a Guide or Instructor?

So, Cross Country Skiing is a no-no, along with the Snowpark, and going over any jumps. Better let your daughter know!

Bandit! You are thread drifting! Glacier walking is not skiing or boarding.
To look at Ally's restriction, there would be a number of folk that have:
a) enough experience to be capable of going off piste, without having to pay for supervision.
b) enough experience to make a judgement about safe conditions,(taking into account local guidelines)
So, DT is likely to be unsuitable for Ally, but so far, appears to be most suitable for me. Which leads us back to my first proposition that we need to select the policy most appropriate to our individual needs.

Fogg Travel have always claimed to cover off piste and provide the cover for the GB ski teams, but their wording is:
Off piste skiing is included provided you act reasonably and do not ski in a closed or avalanche risk area. If not skiing with a guide or instructor always check that the area is suitable for a skier at your level.

Clarification is clearly needed of what they mean by 'an avalance risk area'

At the risk of being keel hauled by Dave Mac, having read Chapter 1 of this thread its nice to see that Ise(who was conspicuous by his absence last season) has not lost the propensity to utterly p**s people off!!!

Well done Ise, I look forward to some intellectual sparring with an unarmed man as the season progresses!!! :!:

Dorset Boy, some info has come out of the Facebook thread. Fogg will not cover skiing offpiste in L4 or L5.
I don't go offpiste in L4, but that's my decision. Every mountain with snow on it could be considered "an avalanche risk area"!

Dave Mac, I have been looking at The Post Office Travel Insurance, which is the one Ally uses. One of the Underwriters is Fortis. I can't find any details of the cover available for Search and Rescue in their policies. I would have thought that would be rather important. Avalanches and other mishaps resulting in lost skiers, unfortunately don't only happen off piste.

Ally, you might want to ask your Insurer what they would do in that instance. Most other insurers seem to group that element of cover in with the Medical costs.