When your winter wonderland turns into an icy nightmare – will your travel insurance cover you?

Jetting off for Christmas and New Year is ideal for those who are looking for a winter wonderland holiday. Travellers are always seeking a new Alpine adventure and with certain resorts offering snowmobile treks and terrain park activities, the risks for the snow seeker are becoming more varied.  So, what should the 21^st century skier and snowboarder look for when buying travel insurance Fiona Macrae, from the consumer awareness initiative travelinsuranceexplained.co.uk, offers advice on what you should do if your winter break becomes an icy nightmare…

I injured myself on my last skiing holiday and I had to claim on my travel insurance – can I still get cover for my next ski holiday?

In short – yes. However, there are some things that you will need to consider; if you have sustained an injury and needed to seek medical attention in the last two years this will need to be declared to your travel insurer.

During the quotation you will be asked to complete a medical declaration. The insurer will then assess the risk and set the premium accordingly. 

It is important to remember that the severity of the injury, i.e. a fractured vertebrae vs a fractured wrist, may determine whether or not there is cover available for your next ski trip.

My resort had terrible weather causing power cuts and delays on the slopes – can I make a claim?

While that is very unfortunate, the cover available will depend on the insurer. If you have purchased a specialist wintersports policy or a wintersports extension you may find the policy will cover for adverse weather preventing you from being able to ski. Many wintersports policies/extensions will also offer cover if there is too little snow.  If is always best to check the specifics of this cover as it can very from provider to provider.

There was a huge avalanche in the resort so it was too dangerous to ski – can I get cover for this incident?

With avalanches being a major risk when going skiing, it’s an important point to consider when booking a ski holiday.

Many insurers will cover you for dangerous conditions on the slopes; however it’s a case of checking with your insurer and reading the policy. Generally speaking, specialist wintersports policies will be more likely to offer you avalanche cover.  However, don’t assume, as all policies are not the same, even the specialist ones, always check, ideally before you purchase the policy, but definitely before you travel.

Due to poor weather my flight to the ski resort was cancelled – will my insurance cover me for cancellation?

Cover for a cancelled flight will depend solely on how you booked your holiday. If a flight is cancelled due to adverse weather it is the airlines responsibility to re-book you on the next available flight. Under most travel insurance policies, cancellation for this reason will not be covered.

Having said that, there are a few travel insurance policies that will offer cancellation for anything that you could not have been seen to foresee or avoid so this may be something to look for, particularly if the holiday you are booking is not part of a package.

I decided to try snowboarding and skidoo/snowmobile trekking on my holiday. Will wintersports travel policies cover these activities?

Along with jet skis and quad-biking in sunny resorts, snow biking has become very popular over the last couple of years and they provide an easy, and fun, way to get around the ski resort. Generally, snow biking is covered as standard with a winter sports extension or specialist winter sports travel insurance policy, but it is important for holidaymakers to check their policy to make sure they are covered for this activity, as cover will vary from provider to provider.

I missed my flight due to a medical issue while on holiday – will I be able to claim back my flight and any costs incurred if my stay is extended?

Generally speaking if you miss your flight due to a medical emergency the cost of an alternative flight home will be covered by your travel insurance policy. However, it is worth checking with your individual insurer as some insurers will include it under ‘anything which you could not have been expected to foresee or avoid’, ‘medical expenses cover’ or they may not cover it at all. If this cover is important to you double check your policy before you buy it.