Insurance warning for off-piste skiers

That is the average cost of calling out a search and rescue team in a European ski resort, according to research by Complete Ski, the insurer. Skiers who venture off-piste and simply get lost could face bills of a similar magnitude. Greg Lawson of Complete Ski said: “Most people would expect emergency services, the local government or even the Foreign Office to cover you if you had to be rescued but, as our research shows, in most places this is not the case.” The cost of helicopter evacuation in European ski resorts can be as high as £9,000, while in North America it is £2,600. An airlift to hospital costs up to £2,500 in Europe and up to £12,000 in North America. Should injured skiers require repatriation, they could be left with a bill of between £30,000 and £100,000 in North America, or between £6,000 and £50,000 in Europe. The majority of policies do not offer insurance for off-piste skiing as standard, but most insurers will provide cover at an additional cost. Mr Lawson urged anyone intending to ski off-piste to check their policy carefully. He also recommended employing the services of a qualified guide, and warned that skiers proven to have consumed excessive amounts of alcohol or drugs before being injured should expect to have their policy invalidated. A recent study by AA Travel Insurance suggested that one in five of the one million Britons expected to take a skiing or snowboarding holiday this winter – an estimated 200,000 people – will travel without purchasing insurance.