Don't get piste off

When you speak to your travel agent in booking yourholiday they will probably offer you a ski insurance policy as part oftheir package. But you should bear in mind that there are insurerswhich specialise in winter sports insurance and which sell products onthe market that may suit you better. The best way to begin is bylooking online to find a good range of quotes quickly and easily.

You are under no compulsion to take the insuranceoffered by your travel agent. Ski insurance is a specialist field, soyou will benefit if you take the time to look around and find whichdeal gives you the best and broadest possible cover: if you want to tryother activities such as snowboarding, heliskiing, dog-sledding ortobogganing, you may find a good deal which will cover you for allthese things.

When you are out there on holiday, you should makesure you keep the risk to your property as low as possible. Forinstance try exchanging one of your skis with a friend if you ever haveto leave them unattended: this will deter thieves, as a pair ofmismatched skis will be practically worthless.

Many insurers now recognise off-piste skiing as partof a ski holiday and so are more inclined to allow it. But you shouldfirst always check the details of your policy to work out whether ornot you will be covered if you try it without a qualified guide. Inaddition, if you ski in avalanche zones or areas marked as ‘out ofbounds’ your policy will automatically become invalidated.

Check the small print too to find out the terms inthe event that your resort suffers from bad skiing conditions whilstyou are there. If the resort is near a glacier they may pay foralternative arrangements that will enable you to ski there. There arebound to be many different reasons that may prevent you from being ableto ski, such as a piste closure or your falling ill or suffering aninjury.

If you’re planning to take more than one skiingholiday during the season, it may turn out cheaper to buy an annualinsurance policy. This will take away the hassle of having to find anew policy every time you go away.

If you pay close attention to the fine print of theinsurance policies available, then ultimately you’ll find you can makegood savings and ensure you are well covered on your holiday.