OFF PISTE Insurance Cover
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Wednesday, 14 February 07 - 07:28 AM (GMT) By Peter Rourke in Off Piste? Beware the small print |
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So you thought you were insured. Well think again. Despite what most people believe and of course how careful they think they are we all pay little attention to the small print. No doubt more of us like to enjoy dangerous sports when we go on holiday rather than the "norm" and there has been an increase in all sorts of activities which in years gone by would have been classified as dangerous.
With over 1.2 million of us heading for the ski slopes my advice to all of you is to check the small print before stepping outside the marker posts. There has been an increase in the number of accidents and deaths on the slopes over the last two years. In fact 2006 was the worst year for accidents in the French Alps with 57 deaths which was double the average, which has prompted insurance companies to review their policies and many are refusing to pay out using the small print.
I talk from experience having taken on the insurers and lost to a general clause in all travel policies which states "exposure to danger which is reasonably forseeable".
This clause can be used by the insurers to avoid payment of claims in virtually any circumstances where someone has been warned of any danger no matter how small.The problem being that for instance Off Piste Skiing and Snowboarding is by it's very nature dangerous and you are reminded of that danger as soon as you cross the boundary ropes. Therefore unless you have written confirmation from the insurers about the extent of any Off Piste cover the insurer will have a very convenient get out clause.
My advice to all is to get confirmation either by email, recorded letter or fax what an insurer means by the terms Off Piste, does this cover 1) skiing outside of the ski domain 2) climbing on foot or skis to reach a run 3)skiing on high-mountain or glaciated terrain. Also confirm what the exclusions mean such as only skiing with a guide or avalanche risk below a certain threshold.
Finally to show what extent the insurers will go not to pay a claim I would cite the recent example of an insured man who was killed in February 2006 by an avalanche in the resort of Isola 2000 close to Nice. He was skiing Off Piste and the avalanche risk factor was high 4/5 and there was fresh snow. The insurers said his actions were tantamount to suicide and have refused to pay out on his life insurance. What next!
Jamesrourke launches
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Monday, 15 January 07 - 07:11 PM (GMT) in General |
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Jamesrourke, powered by Terapad.com (http://www.terapad.com/) was launched today featuring blog, forums, image gallery, event calendar and more.
Jamesrourke can be accessed at http://jamesrourke.terapad.com/. We also have a tribute page with a newsletter at www.jamesrourke.co.uk. Please feel free to send any photos or videos or write to us with any stories we just love to hear from you especially if it is about James. Do not forget there is a forum which I hope will enable people to stay in contact.
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