Slippery slope of ski cover

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.