EU directive allows freedom of choice

Browsing over winter holiday brochures is great fun at this time of year, but as anyone who has ever ended up breaking an arm or a leg while skiing, lost their luggage, or ended up in a resort with no snow - it also pays to look carefully at the accompanying insurance policy.

Policies arranged by operators are also both selective and limited: did you know, for instance, that if you injure yourself while messing around on skates, or on a snowmobile that has been arranged by someone other than the tour operator that your insurance cover will not apply?

Thanks to EU directives, no one is required to take the insurance contract the ski tour operator is promoting in their brochure, but that doesn't mean you can opt out of the policy. All the ski holiday operators require that you either take their recommended policy or have one of equal or superior quality arranged before they will allow you to book the holiday.

There are insurers available - AMEV and AIG Europe are two of the best known - who will sell a stand-alone policy either directly or through their preferred broker, but since insurance is the last thing on anyone's mind when a holiday is being checked out, most skiers end up taking the contract offered in the package. Family Money compared the policies of five tour operators - Crystal, Falcon, Inghams, Panorama and Topflight, and a stand-alone annual policy from AMEV which should be seriously considered by anyone travelling abroad on holiday more than once in the year. This policy offers especially good value for a family, especially one travelling to the US.

So what should you expect from ski holiday insurance?

A seven-day skiing trip is by far the most popular option, says the operators, one of whom, Panorama, only offers one week tours. Yet premiums for the others are mainly based on 6-10 day stays, automatically increasing the cost for the majority of holidaymakers. The premiums for European destinations range from £37 sterling (Crystal) to £46 sterling (Inghams) and between £51 and £65 for the same period for the US and Canada. Rates go up between £5 and £10 for an extra week skiing, depending again whether you travel to Europe or North America. Children under 18 are insured free (under 16s are insured free with Falcon).

There are up to 12 sections in these policies, but the most important concern medical expenses, including emergency evacuation cover; personal liability and the compensation you can expect if your arrival is delayed, there is no snow on the hills or your equipment and personal belongings are lost or stolen. All except Falcon offer £2 million worth of personal liability cover (Falcon offers £1 million) and all but Panorama offer £5 million cover towards medical and repatriation costs. (Panorama's figure is £2 million.) The extremely high medical cover is mainly to take into account the high cost of medical care in the US, but what many people do not realise is that this cover only applies to treatment you receive while abroad; once you get home, the travel insurance ceases and you must rely on the public health service or private insurance. Also in the fine print of these brochures is a reference to "hazardous activities" such as snowmobiling, tobogganing, skating, which are arranged, not by the tour operator but "locally" - say, with a group of friends during an afternoon off from skiing. If you injure yourself or someone else while undertaking these activities, the brochures make it quite clear that "you do so at your own choice and liability" and the operator and its insurer will not be held liable, though the operator will offer to assist "in any claim you may pursue against an offending party". All except Topflight include £25,000 worth of personal accident insurance which pays out sums up to that amount in the event of a loss of limb or sight, or death. Legal expenses cover up to £5,000 is also available in the case of Falcon, Topflight and Crystal and £25,000 in the case of Inghams. Panorama does not include legal expenses insurance in its brochure list, but readers should note that this cover only applies for the insurable period - i.e. the one or two weeks you are abroad. Once home you will have to meet any further legal costs out of your own pocket. (Standalone legal expense policies are available.)

Though injuries are fairly commonplace on ski holidays, they tend to be non-life threatening and far more people break an arm or leg than a neck. More common is a departure delay or poor snow conditions and ski insurance policies also cover these eventualities. EU directives require that holidaymakers are compensated for delayed holidays - the five tour operators in our survey pay out up to £250 for delays of 12 hours or more at a rate of between £20 and £25 for the first 12-hour period and then between £10 and £20 for every 12 hours thereafter. Falcon sets the lowest maximum payout of £60, but delays longer than 36 hours would be unusual for a one-week trip. Panorama allows a full refund (minus a £30 excess) if a holiday is delayed more than 12 hours.

The policies also refund the holiday invoice cost up to a maximum of £3,000, less the excess, which can vary from £15 to £45 depending on the clause, in the event of a cancellation due to accident, death of insured or close family member, etc. This is a fairly standard clause in most charter holiday contracts. These policies also provide cover if you miss your departure due to an accident, public transport delay, etc. and need to catch another flight (at full cost). Once you arrive, Crystal, Inghams and Falcon offer pro-rata compensation of between £250£300 for an unused ski-pack (i.e. the cost of renting skis and gear, ski lift pass, etc) if you end up not being able to ski due to an illness or injury.

The only insurer that apparently does not include piste closure compensation or transport to an alternative slope where there is insufficient snow is Panorama. The payout from the others is a maximum of £300 or £20-£30 per every 12hour period the piste is closed. The theft of/or damage to your personal ski equipment, or the rented version is not unknown on package tours and each of these policies covers equipment to the tune of between £300 and £500, the higher amount covering the cost of personal equipment. There is also compensation for loss of personal items, including cash, though nearly all set maximums of £200-£250 per item, so you are advised not to bring expensive jewellery or cameras along.

Nearly every clause in each of these policies applies the "excess" - between £15 and £45 which is deducted from the amount of compensation you receive, so the theft of ski gloves worth £30, is hardly going to be worth your bother.

The type of insurance policy on offer from these ski-tour companies is hardly going to be the decisive factor in buying one holiday or another, but it is important to know that the basic level of cover is provided.

All the tour companies - bar one - Falcon - make it perfectly clear that if you have to make a claim, you deal directly with the insurer and not with it. In Falcon's case, the insurance has been arranged jointly with Hibernian Insurance and Accident & General and Hibernian has provided a dedicated Travel Claims Service. Anyone travelling with a British operator like Inghams and Crystal will have to deal with UK-based insurers.

Finally, older people wishing to ski should realise that most policies do not apply to persons over 65; anyone over that age will need to arrange a special rate. Topflight even notes that anyone over 70 who is not skiing should double the quoted premium.