Off Piste Protection

By Author: Mathew Sabri
Total Articles: 33
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The travel insurance policies available to skiers and winter sports holidaymakers are usually intended to offer you cover for emergency medical situations, mountain rescue and repatriation. They are not intended to serve as a catch-all health insurance. Therefore before you head off on your holiday, it's important that you know from the outset what your policy actually involves.

When you book your ski holiday, your travel agent or tour operator may well offer you a ski insurance policy too. However there are insurance providers out there which specialise in winter sports insurance and can offer more extensive cover. Start off by looking online to find a wide range of quotes quickly and with ease.

The first thing to remember is that you are under no obligation to buy ski insurance from the travel agent you book your holiday with. Ski insurance is of course a specialist area, so it pays to shop around and to ensure you get the best possible cover for all winter sports activities, including snowboarding, heliskiing, off-piste skiing, dog-sledding and tobogganing, if you are eager to try out some of these things.

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... are certain things you can do whilst skiing to minimise risk and reduce the likelihood that you will have to make any claim. If you leave your skis unattended outside bars during breaks for instance then you should try to exchange one of your skis with a friend in order to deter thieves from stealing a pair of mismatched skis that would be practically worthless.

Many insurers now recognise off-piste skiing as part of a ski holiday and so are more inclined to allow it. But you should first always check the details of your policy to work out whether or not you will be covered if you try it without a qualified guide. In addition, if you ski in avalanche zones or areas marked as ‘out of bounds' your policy will automatically become invalidated.

Check the small print too to see the terms for when snow conditions in your resort are poor. If the resort is near a glacier they may pay for alternative arrangements that will enable you to ski there. There are always lots of factors that may prevent you from being able to ski, such as a piste closure or your own injury or illness.

If you plan on having more than one ski holiday during any given season, it may turn out to be a lot cheaper for you to buy an annual insurance policy. This will also cut out the hassle of arranging a new insurance policy every time you go away.

By carefully looking at the fine print of the insurance policies available, then you'll ultimately find it is possible to make good savings whilst not compromising on cover, enabling you to relax and enjoy your holiday.

Noting the small details can be made a lot easier by taking out a skiing insurance policy with etravelinsurance.co.uk, a complete winter travel insurance package for any ski holiday.