Ski Travel Insurance - BE WARNED about the small print

mcb_007

Following MSE's highlighted recommendation, we took out travel insurance (incorporating winter sports cover) from Coverwise (ie. AXA). This appeared to cover the usual hazards, including loss of equipment and damage to personal items. The policy summary contained the main exclusions and highlighted the excess payments, but our experience indicates the proposed cover reassurance is disingenuous unless you read all 30 pages of the policy wording/terms.

Skis & poles were stolen whilst we were inside a piste restaurant. [Yeah, apparently there are some sad people on the slopes who do that.] We had taken the precaution of swopping skis amongst friends (to avoid leaving pairs together) and we had also added a ski lock. The ski hire company charged £500 to replace, with no proof as to whether this was an appropriate replacement cost.

The insurer pointed out that cover only stretches to £300 for full ski equipment. So, deducting the £100 excess, a claim settlement of £200 was paid against a financial loss of £500. No benefit or compensation (eg. for forfeited day using lift pass) was offered by the insurer for the following day's attempts to trace the stolen skis.

Similarly, friend's phone was damaged when knocked out of hand whilst on chairlift. Small print states mobile phones are not covered at all.

Let this be a warning to everyone - you're expected to read a 30 page document when purchasing insurance that costs c.£20, AND even then you've no way of truly covering the actual losses you're trying to cover.

Anyone else find that winter sports insurance doesn't go anywhere near covering the actual claims that arise?

[btw, simultaneously taking out an Excess Insurance policy and paying the hire company's own excess appears to be the only way to truly cover yourself - but that'll cost a total of c.£100 for the equipment/XS insurance.]

richardw

Sorry to hear of your problems.

£500 seems a bit of a charge and not a genuine estimate of loss.

Like so many things if you read all the details you get a clear picture of cover.

How many people read EU reg EC 261/2004 before booking their flights so they can pick the best airline that would cover their rights?

mcb_007

We wouldn't disagree with richardw that £500 seems a heck of a charge. Perhaps he has faced a different ski equipment loss situation, but there appears nothing to prevent hire companies from holding punters to ransom and charging what they please. They do not need to prove the cost of lost equipment to them and can set the charge at whatever level they choose. To underline this point, the loss is outside the control of the skier/policyholder who has - in good faith - bought a policy that specifically states "winter sports insurance". Surely it is up to the insurers to establish what level losses are likely to be (otherwise they will deny all policyholders full recovery of losses).

The critical points of the thread are:

a) to highlight flaws in MSE's recommendation of cheapest travel insurance;
b) to draw attention to a growing trend of skis being stolen from piste restaurants;
c) to warn others to ask the hire company AT THE POINT OF HIRE what penalties could be applied in event of loss/damage; and
d) the unrealistic dependence insurers can place on achieving 'wriggle room' knowing policy purchasers are most unlikely to read 30 pages of small print at the point of purchase.

In our case, we have disposed of that [ill-labelled] 'Coverwise' policy and purchased another via Columbus where the ceiling on equipment losses is far higher.