I got a feeling based on people's recent phone experience with them that they might not be as lenient anymore... i.e. As @LMB states before, there is nothing in the PDS or other accompanying docs that specifically covers or doesn't cover off piste skiing... Tough one.
Seriously there was never any doubt when I lodged my claim! I was as nervous as hell! But there was never a hint of “we have to check you are covered for this activity” They did question why no ski patrol nor ambulance to hospital though .
Comp insurance with the Amex through Chubb. Excludes special sports “means boxing; cave diving; horse jumping; hunting and hunting on horseback; professional sports; solo canyoning; solo caving; solo diving; solo mountain-climbing; steeple chasing; any form of motor racing, speed, performance or endurance tests; abseiling; American football; baseball; bob sleigh; bungee jumping; canoeing; clay pigeon shooting; deep sea fishing; fell running; go-karting; hang gliding; heli-skiing; hockey; horse riding; hot air ballooning; ice hockey; jet biking and jet skiing; luge; martial arts; microlighting; mountain biking off tarmac; mountaineering; parachuting; paragliding; parascending; paraskiing; polo; potholing; quad biking; rock climbing; rugby; scuba diving deeper than thirty (30) metres; skeleton; skidoo; ski-jumping; ski-racing; ski-stunting; tour operator safari (where You or any tourist will be carrying guns); trekking; war games/paint ball; white water canoeing and rafting; yachting more than twenty (20) nautical miles from the nearest coastline.” so long as I don’t do any stunts or heli, it looks all good. Baseball too is very dangerous.
Excludes Rugby. And noticed the one Ozgirl shared earlier excluded Rugby AND Water Polo! My kids would’ve been stuffed!
Thanks for everyones help, thinking ill bite the bullet and go with AAMI for my friend as it makes things similar. Also as ill be with him and he tends to tumble down the hill so might be able to test out the claims process Fingers crossed everthing goes ok however
Just had Travel Insurance direct pop up with 15%off and they have an additional snow sports cover Snow sports cover If you are planning to do any snow sports or activities, to be covered you need to add the snow sports cover option. This option covers you for the following activities when participating in areas designated as safe by a resort, tour operator or local authority: Snow skiing and snowboarding on-piste and off-piste within resort and terrain park boundaries on groomed or ungroomed runs and marked trails which are patrolled or monitored by resort authorities; Backcountry snow skiing and snowboarding, including heli-skiing and cat skiing, only when on a guided tour with a licensed tour operator; Cross country skiing on marked trails; Tobogganing (on-piste); Snowmobile use when provided by the recognised piste authority for transport to and from areas designed for recreational skiing within resort boundaries or when on a guided tour with a licensed tour operator; Walking (up to 3,000 metres) on ice or glaciers, when on a guided tour with a licensed tour operator; Sleigh riding and dog sledding, when on a guided tour with a licensed tour operator Anyone with experience or thoughts?
I used to always buy TID but they changed their luggage cover to depreciated replacement rather than new. Given I’m taking a few $1000 worth of gear that’s probably depreciated to nil, I stopped using them. But the snow cover looks good.
This is why I like having the comp credit card insurance. And really only have AAMI for skiing related stuff.
Interesting really. If there was a place to buy skiing and adventure sports insurance (tick the boxes and get specific insurance for those items) not including a basic package I’d be in I reckon. Because most of us have some form of credit card insurance for the trip that will cover the basics.
Get on it Oz! Fill the niche in the market! No one minds paying a bit extra for guaranteed cover but some of the ski insurance things are just MENTAL - so many random restrictions and so exxy. And if they provide a discount on the standard cover price if you have formal avy training or similar mores the better as that will encourage people to upskill.
Very interesting - my reading of it is that there is no specific mention in the PDS of an incorporation by reference of the content of the Essentials PDS, so based off the offer document alone (the PDS), the restrictions mentioned in the info pop-ups should not actually apply. It would be a fight, but I think on the grounds of fairness and reasonable disclosure, the insured would prevail if taking this to AFCA.
hmm I think there might be something in the actual government guidelines on insurance that specifies that published addendum pds are to be included. It comes to mind, because I recently quickly searched such documents for ways an insurer might add exceptions/restrictions that aren't in the pds.
Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and I was just searching ski travel insurance for a trip to Japan. I ski overseas every year which involves a lot of backcountry skiing. I have always gone with Ihi Bupa - as I had in writing from them many many years ago that they cover everything involved in skiing as long as you are not mountaineering with specialist equipment/ropes/etc. Anyway, I just re-read their PDS and it appears to have changed and I notice on page 19 - Exceptions to Cover - section 26 - search and rescue services. Any's spreadsheet is super comprehensive and helpful - well done to you. I am waiting on confirmation from Bupa about this and will let you know. Anyone have any word on AAMI yet for cover of off piste outside of resort boundaries and backcountry?
AAMI still says no. yet their documentation hasn't changed since before when they said yes. Bupa is one of the other ones that looks good tho. We need a crash test dummy for Bupa Global / Ihi Bupa, so ... break a leg!
I went with AAMI last year with confidence i was covered off-piste but after reading the above, decided i better give them a call before going with them again this year. The immediate response was "we don't cover off-piste", but when questioned where in the PDS it is excluded the story changed to you have to take "reasonable care" and that there is no guarantee of cover. So the question is what is 'reasonable care'? It would seem that there is now a definite bias to not cover off-piste (even if they haven't updated the PDS to say this), so I would expect it would be a difficult argument to win if a claim ever arose, regardless of what precautions had been taken. I think i will go with someone else.
Yeah Smackies, you're right about Bupa and their rescue if you know where you are. I got a email from them explaining that their wording is "We do cover medical evacuation (by helicopter or other means) but there has to be a known location and only by pre-approval by the Emergency Department". I have asked for clarification on what and who they mean by Emergency Department. The price of Bupa is very competitive to other insurers, and in my experience are really customer service orientated and pay out no problems.
Good point Hully, same as car & other insurance. Can be nice n cheap but if they’re. poor at paying out its just a piece of paper.
I’m in the same boat with respect to gear. Few $$ covering both myself and son. Just wondering whether you have a recommendation in lieu of TID? I have an insurance under American Express which I need to check what luggage cover is included. If ok I will use TID as all other boxes are ticked i think.
Well I have AAMI as my insurance. I’ve also downloaded the Amex credit card insurance, which has pretty basic insurance. I also paid some accomodation on an ANZ card which has better cover for rental car excess. So I’ve downloaded all 3 PDS and hopefully I have good cover between them
Been meaning to share. AAMI asked me to call for cover (after I tried to purchase my quote) I really should... be interesting what they say (since I claimed back country in Aug) But have decided to go with my ANZ cc insurance as it covers skiing but not backcountry. Which I don't think I will be doing this trip, to risky with the knee.
Ooohhhh and I meant to tell you about my experience Oz! When I went to buy the insurance for #4s trip in Feb (few days after buying our own) I got the same message. I was quite surprised so redid the quote using PBs email address as I used mine to buy ours a few days before and it went through fine. May have been a glitch in the system, may have been some other thing than your accident... dunno...but worth mentioning. And we’ve never made a claim with them, nor has the #4 son.
Well, it's not so much a loophole when they've made it pretty clear they no longer have any interest in covering anything outside of marked runs. If the worst comes to the worst, the last thing i want is to be fighting a large insurer on the basis of a loophole. If I'm paying money for cover, i actually want to know I'm going to be covered - rather than just possibly if i feel like the stress of pursing a claim. Obviously until they update their PDS, you could argue you 'should' be covered, but do you really want to take that chance when for similar money you could know for sure that you will be?
Nope!! Have fought insure companies and won before!! It is a loop hole. It wouldn't stand up in court. It would be settled before that! I myself only claimed with AAMI for a heli-skiing accident in August. The PDS hasn't changed since they paid me out for that (all of $1200 in medical and extra night accom, and a one way business class flight home) there is no way I would be expected to email them to clarify every time I purchase the identical product. I don't know what they are hoping to achieve with this messaging, it madness until they change the PDS.
Any advice for a trip to Jackson Hole? We will be skiing the resort runs - groomed and ungroomed, self assisted BC and some guided BC and also possible guided snowmobile
This is really bad advice. Have a look at the spreadsheet on page 6 of this thread. There are plenty of other insurers for similar prices, who will give you the cover you want. Why would you risk not having cover when you need it?
The creator of that spreadsheet has AAMI Insurance and has given up posting due to the insanity in this thread. The PDS is a legal document.
Thanks will look at the spreadsheet and go through all the PDS docs. Bupa looks pretty crap, off-piste only with a guide (unclear whether this means in the resort) and no BC
Try looking at 1 Cover - I thought it read OK for OP inbound. I called them didn't email. I need to commit - 1 month to go!
Yeah be careful with Jackson for that one. on inbounds and out bounds specifically for Jackson Hole. Patrolled gates might be classed as inbounds (ie sweep areas, resort examples (Mott and Killabrew at Heavenly, are patrolled gated areas) but i think Jackson has a lot of unpatrolled gates.
Japan and Jackson are the two i am most worried (re offpiste clasifications). Just get AAMI. (as long as you haven't had contact with them, since their new "messaging" can't really call it policy change.
Yes i did email them and just read through the 10 pages and understand the issue, sorry I haven't been to the states for years, have mostly skied in Japan and used Insure4Less who do cover off piste, BC etc. Unfortunately they don't cover Nth America. https://www.insure4less.com.au/policies/skiing-snowboarding-travel-insurance/
