Travel insurance Q

Holy Diver

Hi. I'm heading to chamonix on sat for 3 weeks. Any suggestions for travel insurance? I usually get multitrip each year but that won't cover it.

Fattes

Multi Trip and Vhi both cover off piste WITH A GUIDE!!!!

You wil not get any one to cover it without a guide unless you are qualified. Especially in Chamonix where most of the best stuff is Glacial including the Valle Blanche

DOG TAG and SkiClub Uk insurance are both quite good.

3greenrizla's

you should be able to upgrade your annual policy to inc cover for wintersports.

i've used www.getcover.com in the past & found their basic ski cover to be fairly cheap they also offer cover for advanced skiers. Fortunately I have never had to claim against them so can't comment on how their service is.

edit - I just remembered that they sent me a discount code... SKI10
...no affiliation with getcover - even though i do work in insurance.

on that point, just a couple of suggestions...

1) get the EHIC ...its free.
2) keep receipts for expensive things like Ski's & Boots & anything else that you might have with you like your jacket, pants, gloves, thermals & even socks as it will help any claim your unfortunate enough to make.

Finally I would be interested in hearing about peoples wintersports insurance nightmares.

EileenG

Also consider the Carre Neige insurance, which you can buy with your lift pass. They are excellent, and as your lift pass will show you've got it, everything is billed directly to them, you don't get asked for a cent anywhere along the way.

I had a quick look at their website, but couldn't see any exclusions about off piste.

EileenG

Not a nightmare, this is an example of brilliant insurance.

I was skiing from a French Youth hostel (Les Arcs) and got injured. Blood train down the mountain, stretchered to doctor, treatment, crutches etc, then ambulance to plane and home. I knew the hostel's insurance covered the bills while I was in France, so I got home and got a lot of taxis to work for the next while.

Then I started getting letters in French, which I kind of ignored (exhaustion and physio etc). Then they started coming in English, and they wanted to know if I what were my continuing bills, and my out-of-work expenses and any misc expenses so that they could pay me.

Have you ever heard of an insurance company paying anything once you are home, never mind harassing you to send them the bills?

So I sent them some bills, and they paid them within a week.

I just wish I could get that insurance as a private individual.

3greenrizla's

Fattes wrote: »

You wil not get any one to cover it without a guide unless you are qualified.

after looking at getcovers policy wording (how nerdy am i?) it seems that their unrestricted off-piste cover may actually be restricted to "areas designated safe by resort management"

hmmm...... seems to be a bit of a contradiction there*.... if you are considering going off piste it might be worth your while giving them a ring (on a recorded line) and asking "if there are any restrictions/exclusions with the unrestricted off-piste skiing/snowboarding" option

I also noticed that snow parks are not covered in their basic ski cover.


*what would the ombudsman say?

3greenrizla's

EileenG wrote: »

....Carre Neige.....

I've heard good things abour Carre Neige, but always forget about them. here's a link that l'll look at later (when I shouldn't be in bed).
http://www.carreneige.com/en/index.php

EileenG wrote: »

Not a nightmare, this is an example of brilliant insurance.......
Have you ever heard of an insurance company paying anything once you are home, never mind harassing you to send them the bills?.............
I just wish I could get that insurance as a private individual.

that is amazing cover, who(what company) was your insurer?

Holy Diver

Thanks all. Will check these out later.

My multitrip does cover snowsports but just two weeks in a year (not sure how they determine how much skiing you've done though...). It is due for renewal now also. I have the EHIC card. So maybe a combination of my multitrip (for flights etc), the EHIC card and the carre neige I will be fairly well covered? I must check the small print re off-piste later.

Fattes

EHIC; Only covers equivelant services in your country or somthing similar, so not sure how comprehensive it is for Winter sports have heard horror stories!"areas designated safe by resort management" You will find the above is designed to cover N.American resorts and Itiniary runs in Europe, Stuff that is AVI Patrooled and monitored but not on piste,.Carre Neige again is quite good but when it comes to off piste most nearly every policy on the planet will require a Guide or you to have a qualification and Good local knowledge to be covered.REMEMBER PEOPLE!!!! Once you leave the side of the piste Beyond the markers in Europe you are on your own!!!! It is officially off piste.

olaola

Fattes wrote: »

REMEMBER PEOPLE!!!! Once you leave the side of the piste Beyond the markers in Europe you are on your own!!!! It is officially off piste.

Ok, this might be stupid question (and I'm not trying to be smart!!) Just wondering IF you were on piste, crashed and in the crash, ended up off piste (beyond the markers) would it still be valid?

EileenG

Yes, that's okay. Particularly because there will almost certainly be witnesses that you were on-piste when it happened. It's the "I'll just ski through those trees, and keep the piste in sight" cases where you can find your insurance won't cover.

Fattes

Ok, this might be stupid question (and I'm not trying to be smart!!) Just wondering IF you were on piste, crashed and in the crash, ended up off piste (beyond the markers) would it still be valid?

Yes you should be cover but having said that insurance companies will try anything not to pay, You could have the well your fall was on piste but the injures occurred beyond the piste (Based on a claim of a friend last year)

Had to take them to court to get the money!

a148pro

Yeah they'll invariably use claims handlers who will do their best not to pay up. Just persist and / or threaten legal proceedings and eventually you'll get what you deserve.

I am convinced that insurance is the biggest scam in the world and how these operators get away with doing their best to not honour their agreements is beyond me.

dwiseman

I have a credit card with bank of ireland and any flight that I book using that credit card entitles me to travel insurance. It covers me and 2 travelling companions as long as their flights are also paid using my credit card. Very handy when going on holidays with herself as it covers the two of us. I rang and checked with them that it covered winter sports and it did but its defo worth checking with your card provider.

3greenrizla's

Fattes wrote: »

EHIC; Only covers equivelant services in your country or somthing similar, so not sure how comprehensive it is for Winter sports

it allow's the same cover in that country as a citizen of the country (god help visitors to Ireland)...

http://www.gov.ie/en/services/ehic/
As an Irish resident you are entitled to get healthcare through the public system in countries of the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland if you become ill or injured while on a temporary stay there. One Card is needed for each individual or member of the family.

It does not cover wintersport's/bringing someone off a mountain/search and rescue & does not cover getting you back to Ireland. but does mean that you normally don't have to pay an excess on your insurance if you need healthcare when abroad. It also means (IMHO) you don't really need travel insurance for a 'normal' trip within Europe. + It's free.

olaola wrote: »

Ok, this might be stupid question (and I'm not trying to be smart!!) Just wondering IF you were on piste, crashed and in the crash, ended up off piste (beyond the markers) would it still be valid?

ALL above answers are on the money.

a148pro wrote: »

I am convinced that insurance is the biggest scam in the world.

Unfortunately sometimes I think this too, that's why I don't see the need for baggage cover. the camera you bought last year is now worth less (new) than you paid for it + it's second hand, on most policies you get the value at the time of loss = the price of the same second hand camera.
but this also shows the importance of reading your policy. Today I remember 2 clients one I dealt with was delighted with the service that she received & one was appalled. Unfortunately the second customer thought his cover was better than he had paid for (they both had the same cover).

dwiseman wrote: »

I have a credit card with bank of ireland and any flight that I book using that credit card entitles me to travel insurance. It covers me and 2 travelling companions as long as their flights are also paid using my credit card....it covered winter sports.

thanks for that, I also have a BOI credit card - i'm not sure if I have insurance with it, but its well worth checking out, also remember that your health insurance (VHI & the rest) probably cover some healthcare whilst abroad even without the travel insurance option.

the moral of my story is Read The Policy.




on a lighter note.... the best Wintersports question I have ever had was...
"am I covered if I ski to the shops when the roads are closed?"... I checked with the underwriters and the answer was NO & this was a VVIP policy where you were not supposed to say no.

derrycosgrave

I'm moving to Wanaka, New Zealand in June for the ski season. I'm Irish and have been living in OZ for the past 12 months. I have encountered two problems so far regarding travel insurnace.

No Irish company will insure me beacuse I don't live in Ireland. No Australian company will insure me beacuse I am not a permanent resident. To make matters worse I need to have travel insurance with full winter cover for 4 months. Most companies insure people up to 60/90 days.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.