Winter sports insurance

OldAndy, it's a bit scary. Get lost in fog, end up at the bottom of a canyon, edge of a cliff.....no insurance cover.

I think the co. have thought this through, and they don't want skiers on their books.

Scalp wounds are the most dramatic...lots of blood for very little effort )

The intention I believe is to exclude skiers which go off into the wilderness on their own without telling anyone of their plans.
Not to exclude genuine accidents and mishaps where the insured has acted responsibly.
Of course that wording can be interpreted in different ways and could give a less reputable insurance co (or their out-sourced claims function sitting on the other side of the world) the ability to refuse to pay a claim.
A friend of mine is a travel underwriter, I'll ask his opinion.

bandit wrote:
Scalp wounds are the most dramatic...lots of blood for very little effort )

But you are en-casquated in your photo?

OldAndy wrote:

bandit wrote:
Scalp wounds are the most dramatic...lots of blood for very little effort )

But you are en-casquated in your photo?

I won't be their customer next year, as the policy has been altered so much it no longer meets my needs.

andyhull wrote:The intention I believe is to exclude skiers which go off into the wilderness on their own without telling anyone of their plans.
Not to exclude genuine accidents and mishaps where the insured has acted responsibly.
Of course that wording can be interpreted in different ways and could give a less reputable insurance co (or their out-sourced claims function sitting on the other side of the world) the ability to refuse to pay a claim.
A friend of mine is a travel underwriter, I'll ask his opinion.

If it's listed as an Exclusion, there is no cover. I can't see any wiggle room there. Not even any weasel words to debate this time. We should be thankful that the co. is making it moderately clear.

Well, if you were lost alone on the mountain in bad weather conditions it wouldn't be long before you were a medical emergency - hypothermia, dehydration etc. etc. and then if it got dark you might very well fall off a cliff etc. so it is ridiculous to me that an insurance company should say they won't pay for search and rescue unless it is already a medical emergency.

And if a skier/snowboarder is late returning from the mountain then the family might wait before informing the rescue services if they thought they'd have to pay for it, which could possibly result in the unnecessary death of the missing person if it got dark and the rescue services couldn't find them.

I live near the coast and I know it is vitally important to inform the rescue services as soon as possible if a swimmer/diver etc. is missing as every minute can count in these cases.

And last ski holiday I was following the Leader of the Ski Club of Great Britain in very poor visibility (heavy snow) when he accidentally went the wrong side of the piste marker and disappeared up to his chest in deep snow. So I reckon pretty much anyone could end up lost and accidentally off-piste in conditions of poor visibility.

Ally

AllyG, to an Insurance Company, as a group, we are reduced to a set of statistics. They simply don't care about what we think or feel about the human implications of their policy exclusions.
All we can do is hope that folks this winter, really read the small print and understand what they are buying.

Well, after trawling this thread i am still no wiser as what to do....my DT policy is up for renewal very soon too.