High Value Travel Insurance with Winter Sports Cover

Hitting the slopes this year? Tysers’ Travel and Lifestyle insurance covers Winter Sports

High value travel insurance with winter sports cover can protect your high value personal items and cover ‘high risk’ winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding. Finding the right travel insurance can be challenging, but if you have other high-net-worth policies with Tysers we can offer bespoke insurance to suit your lifestyle.

If you enjoy skiing, snowboarding or other winter sports that are often classed as ‘high risk’ activities, it can be difficult to find the right policy which provides adequate cover for your chosen activities, and for your high-value personal items and sports equipment. Many providers of activity travel insurance or extreme sports travel insurance have limited cover for cancellations, age restrictions and other exclusions which may interfere with your holiday plans.

Winter Sports Insurance: What to consider

Single trip cover vs annual travel policy

If you travel frequently then purchasing an annual travel policy can be more cost effective and easy to manage – once the policy is in place you have peace of mind that all of your travel is covered. Most standard annual travel policies will cover up to 90 days of travel a year, but a specialist high value travel insurance policy can offer longer periods of cover to better fit your schedule.

Your destination

Your insurance premium may vary depending on your destination. Insurers generally use three categories;

• Europe
• Worldwide Excluding the USA
• Worldwide Including the USA

As the USA has very high medical costs compared to most countries, it is important that you are covered should an accident occur whilst travelling in the USA. The expenses incurred following a serious accident could spiral into the hundreds and thousands of dollars. So, if you are planning to visit the USA, either on a single trip policy or an annual travel policy, you should ensure your policy covers worldwide travel including the USA and that your financial limits for claims will be sufficient.

Your activities

When taking out a travel insurance policy, it’s important to inform your broker of all the activities you plan on enjoying whilst on holiday. For high risk winter sports, such as skiing and snowboarding, it is highly advisable that you take out ski insurance with helicopter rescue to cover more serious accidents.

On Piste vs Off Piste

If you are planning to only ski marked runs in a resort, many winter sports policies will cover on piste skiing and snowboarding. However, if you are more adventurous and plan to explore off piste, many policies will not cover this as standard.

If you intend to ski or snowboard outside of the marked runs at your resort, off piste travel insurance is highly advisable to ensure you are not stranded without cover should an accident occur.

Even within off piste skiing there are different levels of risk for insurers to consider. For instance, if you are planning on skiing off piste with a professional guide, this would be considered lower risk. However, if you are an experienced skier or snowboarder who prefers to hit the slopes without a qualified guide, you will need to ensure this is covered in your policy.

Important note: even when covered by a specialist winter sports policy that provides cover for off piste skiing and snowboarding, it is important to heed avalanche warnings and never to venture into areas designated as unsafe by the local authorities. If an accident occurs in an area that has been determined as unsafe, the insurance policy will not be valid.

Personal Item Cover

Most standard travel insurance policies have a single item limit on personal items, and this can often be inadequate for travellers with expensive equipment, electricals, or other personal items. The compensation offered for loss or delay of luggage may also be insufficient, so if you are packing designer clothing or specialist sports equipment a high value travel insurance policy may provide better protection.

Business Travel

If you require business travel insurance for your frequent business trips, or like to combine business travel with leisure activities, such as winter sports or golf, an annual policy that covers both business and leisure travel may offer the best value cover.

Making a claim

Although standard travel insurance providers may offer a quick and convenient way to get cover, making a claim when things do go wrong can be a difficult process with too much time spent on hold to faceless call-centres. For expert, personal service, insuring through a specialist high-net-worth broker such as Tysers provides access to a dedicated Client Director and an in-house, highly experienced, UK based, claims team.

Contact us

Tysers can offer an annual travel policy as part of a high-net worth household policy or alongside many of our other high-net worth covers. Taking out a travel policy with Tysers ensures protection for many types of travel around the world.  From golfing trips, to skiing, all winter sports and cruises; our specialist policies can be tailored to protect all activities.

For more information, or to get started with a policy, contact your usual Tysers broker or contact us here:

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