| Picture: Image Bank |
WITH the ski season fast approaching, agents should be
swotting up on the various benefits of winter sports
policies.
Almost all insurance companies offer winter sports cover which
provides essential additional holiday insurance benefits for
clients planning a few days on the piste. These policies will pay
out if equipment is damaged or lost and replacements have to be
hired, or if there is not enough snow in resort.
Since the avalanches in Europe of a few years back, when many
people were either stranded in resort or were unable to get to
their hotels, most insurers will also pay out if there is too much
snow. Additionally, if the holiday is cut short because of an
accident or illness, they will refund part of the cost of any
unused ski passes.
Two or three years ago, there used to be a choice of dedicated
winter sports policies – so called because they didn’t
just cover skiing and snowboarding holidays, but also snow-related
activities such as snowmobiling, tobogganing and ice-skating. Most
also allowed off-piste skiing provided it was guided, but now it is
vital agents check the level of cover before selling such a
policy.
However, as sales through agents have fallen, and dedicated
policies become less cost-effective to print, most companies now
have a winter sports package that can be bolted on to a summer
holiday insurance for an additional premium – usually double
the standard price.
Most will also add winter sports cover to an annual policy for
an extra premium, allowing policyholders to spend either 17 or 31
days on the slopes within the policy’s 12 months’
validity. Although they sell plenty of ski holidays, traditionally
agents have never had a big slice of the winter sports insurance
market.
It is thought clients feel safer buying a policy from the tour
operator that sold them the skiing holiday – and what share
of the market agents do have is dwindling in line with general
travel insurance sales, according to Citybond Suretravel sales
director Iain Chalmers.
“Agents sell very little winter sports insurance,” he said.
“Most have limited knowledge of skiing and don’t know what
ski-joring or heli-skiing are, or whether clients will be covered,
so agents often feel more comfortable selling the operator’s
insurance.”
That is despite the fact agents can earn only around 10%
commission from an operator’s policy instead of the 30%-40%
they could levy on a retail scheme’s net rates.
Rock Insurance managing director Antony Martin believes a lot of
clients are going direct for their ski insurance, as they do for
their summer holiday cover. “Clients are wiser about what they can
buy and know they can get the same cover online for £20 less
than it costs from an agent,” he said.
Preferential sales director John Buckingham said sales of retail
winter sports schemes are lower because agents are not giving away
ski policies as a marketing tool.
“The insurance is more expensive for agents to buy and give
away, and they also know customers feel more secure with the tour
operator’s insurance,” he said.
The fact that clients recognise the importance of good ski
insurance is reassuring for the travel insurance industry, which is
only too familiar with the sky-high costs of an accident on the
piste.
In Austria, treatment costs around £200 if the skier has an
E111 form. Repatriation will cost in excess of £600, while an
escort will add another £2,500-£3,000 to the bill.
In the US, breaking a leg will cost around $15,000 while any
client who has to be repatriated will be looking at a bill of
£4,000 if they need to travel in a business-class seat. A
stretcher and nurse will add another £10,000 to the tally.