Winter sports insurance

The hazards associated with winter sports are well known, and those participating have a responsibility to themselves and others to stay safe and minimise the risk or an accident...

That means exercising due caution while undertaking your chosen activity, and following the rules of the sport and of the particular resort. These are usually displayed at the entrance to ski lift systems.

If you are negligent or reckless or otherwise flout the guidelines as laid down by your policy, you might find any claim you make is turned down or reduced by the insurer.

A particular problem can arise if people have accidents when under the influence of alcohol. This can invalidate their cover so take it easy when enjoying a lunch on the slopes.

You might be required to specify if you plan to undertake activities such as tobogganing, ski-doo/snow-mobiling or ice skating, for example. The policy might also stipulate that you will not be covered if you ignore warnings posted at the resort about hazardous conditions, or if you venture into certain areas without a guide.

When selecting your policy it's imperative that you have the right levels of cover. Check these carefully as the cheapest prices are unlikely to cover you sufficiently...

As a general rule, consider a policy with the following levels of cover as a minimum:

• £2m for medical expenses with cover for repatriation to the UK and for the expenses of retrieving you from a mountain in case of accident. 
• £1m personal liability 
• £3,000 cancellation - or enough to cover the total cost of your holiday 
• £1,500 baggage 
• £250 for cash 
• Policy excesses under £100 
• Cover for scheduled airline failure and end supplier failure if you are not travelling on an ATOL backed package holiday 
• Delay cover (e.g. £20/hour for first 12 hours).
• Piste closure - cover if there is insufficient or too much snow and the pistes are closed
• Loss of lift pass - covers the cost of losing your lift pass
• Ski equipment - cover for your own boots, skis, boards and other equipment.

It is important not to compromise on the scope and extent of your cover as you could find yourself severely out of pocket. For example, the cost of medical repatriation is extremely high, so if you skimped on medical expenses protection, you might not have sufficient funds to get you back from your holiday for treatment and convalescence in the UK.

The same applies to liability cover, which would cover your costs if you were deemed to be at fault for an incident that caused injury or loss to others.

If you are tempted by a cheap policy, check the level of excess that you would have to pay in the event of a claim. If this is set at a high level - say, £200 - then saving money on the premium could prove to be a false economy.