The importance of insuring your winter sports holiday

According to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1 in 5 British citizens now enjoy winter sports activity holidays each year. But in a survey carried out by Esure, 1 in 8 of those taking a winter sports holiday fail to take out travel insurance. The global recession may well be a factor in those forgoing travel insurance, but with the costs of medical treatments rising, can you really afford to hit the slopes uninsured?

We all need holiday cover to insure that we can afford medical treatment abroad while we need it. There is always a risk of illness or injury when on holiday, but a trip that entails activities on snow-covered mountainsides understandably increases the risk of injury.

As well as the costs of medical treatments – running into the thousands of pounds for broken limbs for example, you also have to factor in costs such as helicopter evacuation and repatriation costs. Repatriation costs mean the price of paying to have you flown home for treatment should the necessary medical care available at your holiday destination be lacking.

So how much cover should you be looking for from your travel insurance provider? Insurance advice websites tend to agree at a figure of around £2 million worth of treatment cover, as well as £1 million worth of personal liability to cover you should you cause an accident that injures a third party.

You should also factor in cover for loss of or damage to your luggage – in the region of £1500, depending on the value of you luggage. It is also worth insuring your travel cash, and look for travel insurance that covers the cost of cancelling your holiday should you need to.

When you’re looking for travel insurance, it’s important that you read through the insurance contract, including the finer details. You want to make sure that you know exactly what your policy does, and doesn’t, cover. Some policies may not include claims that are made for off piste injures, while others may not cover extreme winter sports such as bobsleigh and heli-skiing.

The best way to find suitable insurance is to look online. This is the quickest way to access details of as many travel insurance products as possible. The more quotes you check, the more likely you will be to find the best deal for you. Try insurers that specialize in winter sports cover, such as Go Travel Insurance, who offer travel insurance that covers off piste injuries as well as on.