Skating into winter trouble

By JO THORNHILL
Updated: 04:29 EST, 10 January 2006

YOU'VE booked your winter holiday, packed your skis and bought insurance cover. So everything is covered? Perhaps not.

Take a tumble while ice skating or fall off a toboggan and you might face financial ruin. 'While many standard ski insurance policies now cover snowboarding, most do not cover the full range of winter sports,' says Betony Garner of the Ski Club of Great Britain.

'Many skiers might try dog-sledding, tobogganing or ice skating without realising that if they have an accident that requires medical attention, they will not be covered.'

More than a million Britons will go skiing in the next few months. Many will buy insurance through tour operators and travel agents, even though research shows that these policies can cost up to twice as much as plans from banks and insurers.

Three steps will keep you safe, and at a sensible cost:
• Shop around to find the best value policies. This is Money's insurancefinder, which is powered by MoneySupermarket will find you the best deals on the market.
• When you have narrowed your search to the best few quotes, read the small print to check that the policies cover baggage, personal liability and compensation if you are unable to ski because of injury or lack of snow.
• Also, check out the excess - the first part of a claim that you might be asked to pay.

The Ski Club of Great Britain's standard travel insurance policies are available to non-members.

They cover all winter sports, including off-piste skiing and snowboarding, with or without a guide, cross-country skiing, heli-skiing - being taken by helicopter to a remote starting point - recreational racing, dog-sledding, bobsleighing, curling, tobogganing and ice-skating. www.skiclub.co.uk

Cover starts from £21.50 for an individual in Europe for a single trip of up to six days. Annual worldwide multi-trip cover is £76 for a couple.

Ski Club's standard policy covers holidaymakers for up to £1,000 worth of baggage, but there is no compensation if you are unable to ski due to a lack of snow or piste closure.

COLD HARD FACTS

• 1.2m Britons went skiing abroad in 2005.
• One in five of all holidaymakers do not take out travel insurance policies. • More than 90% of British skiers choose European slopes for their winter holidays.
• Among British skiers, 42% go to France, 17% choose Italy, 5% visit Canada and 3% go to America.
• The average claim on winter sports travel policies is £362, according to Churchill Insurance.
• More than a third of all claims are for medical expenses.

Andrew Parkhouse, 53, from Ashford, Kent, knows about the value of insurance. His first skiing holiday was marred by a painful injury.

Andrew, who works in sales for a financial services firm, had gone to the resort of Borovets in Bulgaria with his wife, Caroline, 51, an IT trainer. But on the second day of the trip, he fell over another skier and twisted his knee.

'I was in agony,' says Andrew. 'I was taken to the nearest first aid point on the slopes where they took an X-ray and fitted a knee brace. It was such a shame because I'd had only one full day of skiing. The rest of my holiday had to be spent in cafes and bars with my feet up.'

The total cost of the medical treatment Andrew needed, plus reimbursement for his unused ski equipment and ski lift pass, was £200, which he claimed on his Churchill travel insurance policy. An annual European travel policy with Churchill, which includes winter sports, starts from £70.

Frequent travellers should consider annual multi-trip cover as it usually works out cheaper than buying individual policies for each trip. Karen Preston, travel insurance manager at Sainsbury's Bank says: 'This is one of the busiest times for holiday bookings, but as people get excited about choosing where to go they can overlook the importance of the right travel insurance. Many could make a substantial saving by buying an annual policy.'

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Research by the bank shows that 6m people take more than two holidays a year, but buying individual trip insurance wastes about £50 a year.

According to Sainsbury's Insurance, a family of four taking a 14-day holiday to Europe would pay £41.80 for travel cover with the bank, £71.50 for a sevenday ski break in Europe, and £31.35 for a three-day short break in Europe - £144.65 for the year.

In contrast, annual travel insurance for the family covering all three trips would cost £107.25.

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