Insurance warning for skiers

Thousands of skiers risk huge medical bills by not buying adequate travel insurance, according to new research from the Foreign Office.

It reveals that almost a third (31%) of people in the UK admit to not taking out travel insurance for their winter sports holidays.

Skiers not properly insured could face bills worth thousands of pounds if they are injured whilst skiing or snowboarding, the FO warned.

Injury cost examples include:

• Breaking your leg in the Italian Alps could cost more than £4,000 (including medical fees and repatriation);
• A spinal injury in France could cost £6,400.
• Further afield or in a remote location, such as Argentina, a spinal fracture could cost £23,000

(Click on the map above for more examples of insurance claims by British skiers who have broken bones in the world's skiing hotspots. Download the PDF version, right.)

Don't get piste

It also warned skiers over the dangers of alcohol which can affect you more quickly at high altitudes and seriously limits awareness of danger and cold.

Skiers involved in an accident whilst under the influence of alcohol could invalidate their insurance cover.

Dr Laurence Bristow-Smith, British Consul General in Milan, said: “We’ve provided support in a couple of consular cases where fatal accidents in the mountains were a direct result of drinking too much alcohol. In one case the insurance company refused to pay out as the policy holder ‘had put himself in unnecessary danger and was under the influence of alcohol.’

"This meant that repatriation costs, amounting to thousands of Euros, had to be met by the family.”