Winter Sports Travel Insurance

Snow-forecast.com releases travel insurance for its users, with up to 15% off for members. Members can save more on their insurance than the membership cost itself, which starts at £3.99 / €4.50 that also includes:

• Advanced dynamic weather maps (12 days instead of 6)
• Extended forecasts multi elevation 12 day, instead of 6 day
• Hourly detailed forecasts (instead of 6)
• Full App functionality
• 20 years of snow-history analysis (compare resorts on the same screen)
• More membership discounts (i.e. up to 50% off ski hire – rental with our additional 10% off promo code etc)

Some myths about ski insurance:

• My bank account or credit card has all the travel insurance cover I need
• If I forget to buy insurance when I’m already travelling I can buy it when on holiday
• I’m bound to be covered because I have an annual policy
• All standard insurance covers on-piste skiing
• All ski insurance covers going off-piste as long as I’m not backcountry / out of bounds
• I’m already covered (In 2017 22% of UK holidaymakers had no policy and 38% had insufficient cover!)

Four tips to avoid the pitfalls in travel insurance, and why we created snow-forecast.com to counter these:

Tip no.1:
Skiing and snowboarding and other winter pursuits are seen differently by different insurance companies. Some cover basic on-piste only skiing within a standard travel insurance policy, Others don’t. Even on-piste skiing insurance can mean a slight deviation off the slope, maybe to sample the fresh snow or that mini kicker jump you saw on your last run down, can invalidate your policy. It is left to the insurer to decide if they feel this should cover you, or not. Reading the T&Cs is the only real way to know what’s covered, so ALWAYS DO THIS or run the risk of rescue, medical and repatriation costs that could bankrupt you and your family.
Tip no.2:
When it comes to on or off-piste skiing, backcountry or extreme winter sports, don’t believe any “insurance included” policies that you get as a bundle, or ‘free’ with your other financial products (from bank accounts to house insurance) means you are covered. Traditionally these ‘thrown in’ insurances cover the minimum liabilities (not always enough) and designed / priced only for low risk bucket and spade sun holidays in popular traditional holidaying destinations. If you are going away for more than 7 days, to a country not covered, doing anything other than the ‘norm’ you may get a shock if something should happen when you find your basic policy is only a week long and is lacking in most areas of cover you thought you had…
Tip no. 3:
As with most things in life, if it seems too good to be true…. it probably is, and so doesn’t include what you are expecting. Online shopping for the cheapest insurance has created some pitfalls where instead of your ‘travel agent’ matching a policy to your holiday type and duration, we are left to ‘self-advise’ meaning, yes, you’ll hopefully saving some money, but with the added inconvenience of trawling through t’s & c’s before realising the policy doesn’t apply to you or your family. Insurance comparison sites offer wintersports cover comparrisons but usually compare cover and not the finer detail of what you are actually covered for (i.e. a standard response from a major comparison site states: “Specific policy features and therefore cover provided will vary from provider to provider and it is therefore important that you read the policy features prior to purchase to ensure you have the protection you require”
So even after comparing everything we are expected to ‘self – advise’ and understand the contract terminology within a policy.
Tip no. 4:
Be covered (from circa £20 for 7 days for basic ski packages) or don’t leave home! One example of how important this is was reported on by ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) who reported 38% of the UK population travelled in 2017 without the correct cover for their activity levels, and 22% had no insurance at all!

Where do I go from here? Introducing Snow Forecast Travel Insurance:

The pitfalls above are why we created snow-forecast.com travel insurance, which clearly states the key points in a simple to digest list so no ambiguity arises. We go away, a lot, and we’ve experienced the same set of problems again and again, resulting in us believing it’s better to have the right cover but understand many of our visitors find that hard to establish or would like to know that someone likely to have the same needs, have already tested the waters when it comes to all things snow and winter sports, and can offer a reasonable suggestion / quick list of cover included relevant to snowsports enthusiasts.

Especially for those ‘I forgot’ last-minute buys on the mobile while taking off on the plane ! (not advisable!). In fact we value how our opinions can be of positive influence for our visitors, and so do not always suggest snow-forecast.com travel insurance’s single trip, multi-trip and annual policies, as for non-uk residents or for those also pursuing more extreme activities / extended durations / more frequent long haul trips, we suggest our friends at Dogtag insurance who also offer enhanced medical assistance tools and global rescue capabilities.

What’s it all about & why release Snow Forecast insurance?

We’ve looked high and low for the best cover for our own pursuits, and come to the conclusion that, effectively all these insurance brands that we buy from end up being the same kind of insurance from the same source but with different ‘flavours’ that attempt to fit the different types of people they are targeting. It’s a handful of global companies (underwriters) supplying middlemen (brokers) who then provide clear policy definitions to re-sellers (brands) who usually have a network of people selling for them (introducers).

After 20 years, Snow-Forecast Travel insurance is proud to be partnering with the tifgroup who are experts within the travel insurance sector. We feel they are the natural partner for Snow-Forecast and for UK residents travelling anywhere the Foreign & Commonwealth offices allows.

As for residents of other countries we have decided to partner with DOGTAG travel insurance, who many at Snow-Forecast.com use for our own more adventurous pursuits.

Snow-Forecast Travel Insurance, via TIF, allows for snow-forecast.com to bespoke its policies to what we feel best suits our own user base and also benefit our key users via a financial discount of 15% for our members.

DOGTAG travel insurance is the snow-forecast partner for advanced users who may have multiple trips a year and are likely to need additional adventure activity cover (such as lengthy expeditions etc). It is a heightened level of insurance policy that blurs the lines between insurance and ‘a service’, where every policyholder has a Dogtag and card to carry illustrating how foreign medical staff can gain online access to medical history. (coming soon: this data is stored on a near field communication (NFC) sticker for your helmet / skis / wallet etc so no matter what the situation your medical records are at the fingertips of rescue and medical staff)

USA & Canadian Resident – Click here for DOGTAG insurance from anywhere to anywhere, excluding countries where your government restricts travel. (NB – 5% discount for snow-forecast.com members – join here from $5.15 USD / $6.87 CAD) UK Resident – Click here for Snow-Forecast Travel Insurance or for advanced users click here for DOGTAG insurance. (NB – 15% or 5% discount for snow-forecast.com members – join here from £3.99)
Australia & New Zealand Resident – Click here for DOGTAG insurance from anywhere to anywhere, excluding countries where your government restricts travel. (NB – 5% discount for snow-forecast.com members – join here from $7.20 AUD / $7.70 NZD) South Africa Resident – Click here for DOGTAG insurance from anywhere to anywhere, excluding countries where your government restricts travel. (NB – 5% discount for snow-forecast.com members – join here from 71 Rand)
All Other Countries Residents: – Click here for DOGTAG insurance from anywhere to anywhere, excluding countries where your government restricts travel. (NB – 5% discount for snow-forecast.com members – join here from 4.54 € / $5.15 USD*)

What is covered?

As anyone who has ever been heli-lifted from the top of an Alp or broken a bone abroad will tell you – don’t forget your travel insurance. As essential as your ski gloves, travel insurance covers everything from holiday cancellation to airline delay or that lost ski pass at the end of the first day’s skiing. Those two minutes spent filling in an online form could be key to ensuring a stress-free holiday. If you are planning a snowy adventure this winter, don’t forget to take out a travel insurance policy.

Snow-Forecast.com Travel Insurance details:

Catering for the more adventurous family holidays and intrepid individual away from home, Snow-forecast Travel Insurance covers more than just skiing holidays.

Key benefits

• Up to £600 for lost lift passes
• Free cover for children on family policies
• 24/7 medical assistance
• 24 days winter sports is standard.
• Provided your activities are non-professional and non-competitive and on the very exhaustive activities list, you’re covered.
• Single trip policies can be bought for trips lasting up to 365 days for travellers up to age 85
• Multi-trip policies (with any individual trip lasting no more than 31 days) include unlimited single trips within the year
• Emergency medical attention – up to a maximum of £10,000,000 for medical expenses including repatriation and air ambulance, 24/7 medical assistance cover
• Activity Equipment and Luggage Cover – Maximum £100 for lost, stolen or damaged hire equipment
• Cancellation cover – Maximum £5000
• There are three levels of cover available, Green, Blue and Red.
• Green Policy – the standard policy
• Blue Policy – includes additional cover with emergency physiotherapy treatment
• Red Policy – offers the best package of cover and provides up to £5000 cancellation.