Skiers risk painful half-term with no insurance
With perfect snow reported over the European slopes, the half-term ski getaway will see thousands of families heading for European resorts. But, according to new research for AA Travel Insurance, nearly fifth of travellers could come to a sticky and expensive end because they have no cover.
In an AA/Populus study of 2,000 AA members who are taking a winter holiday, 18 per cent say they don't buy travel insurance. Of those that do, only a third (34%) take the trouble to make sure that the cover is what they are looking for.
Alan Purvis, director of AA Travel Insurance, says that given the scope for serious injury on the slopes, finding that nearly a fifth don't have insurance protection is worrying.
"More than a million people go on a snow holiday every winter so potentially, up to 200,000 are uninsured," he says.
Earlier research for the AA suggested that 11% of travellers believe that the free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is a substitute for travel insurance.
"Although every European traveller should take the EHIC, in fact it simply entitles UK citizens to the same level of medical care in an EU country that a local resident could expect," Mr Purvis says. "And the level of cover will vary from country to country.
"The card can't be relied upon to meet all your medical costs. It certainly wouldn't meet the £20 per minute cost of say a helicopter rescue off the mountainside. Add to that emergency treatment at a clinic or hospital - many of which are privately operated - and you could be staring at a bill of at least £7,000.
"That's a very painful cost to swallow quite apart from the pain and inconvenience of fracturing a limb or dislocating a shoulder, both of which are common winter injuries."
Another surprising finding is that only third (34%) say they look at what the insurance covers before they buy.
Mr Purvis points out that while the majority of winter sports policies will meet most conventional winter travellers' needs, many will exclude activities such as off-piste ski-ing or tobogganing.
"It's also important to point out that most standard travel insurance policies won't include winter sports at all," he adds.
Typical costs if you come a cropper in Europe
Helicopter mountain rescue at £20 per minute: £1,000
Four days hospital admission: £3,000 to £8,000
Emergency surgery for fractured hip: £8,000 to £12,000
Emergency treatment for dislocated shoulder: £1,000 to £2,000
Organising stretcher repatriation from Switzerland to Gatwick: £10,000
AA Travel Insurance offers winter sports cover that includes ski-ing and snowboarding; up to £10m medical expenses; off-piste ski-ing with a guide; piste closure; equipment cover and financial failure of airlines, travel companies and other arrangements booked individually by the traveller.