Do you get travel insurance when you go on vacation? Most people do because their travel agent advises them to do this. In most cases travel insurance is a prudent move but the truth is that travel agents get good commission on travel insurance and thus they are motivated to recommend it. I would guess that the number of people getting travel insurance when they book their vacations over the internet (or certainly their flights) is a lot lower than dealing with a travel agent. I think this is low because most people don't think anything will happen to them. And in 99% of the time they would be right.
Have you ever claimed on your travel insurance ? I haven't. Having said this, I have always taken out skiing travel insurance. I've been on quite a lot of ski trips and vacations now and fortunately nothing has happened to me. I haven't broken my leg or even had any serious injury. I haven't lost equipment, had it stolen or broken it and my hotel booking has never been screwed up. Maybe I've just been lucky but I imagine most people are fortunate enough to have had this experience of their ski vacations. So why bother with the ski insurance ?
Well, in my mind, if something is going to happen on a vacation, a ski vacation must be one of the prime candidates. Although I've never had a serious injury it seems that I have witnessed at least one accident during each trip. I have also seen people being taken down the slope on a ski bed and in a few cases being taken down by helicopter. I don't know how expensive these kinds of operations would be but I would be far happier if somebody else was paying for them - notably my insurance company. So it does happen, and medical costs could really mount up depending on how serious the injury is. If you have to spend a few days in hospital this would prove expensive. This is the major cause for concern on a ski vacation however you could also guard against things like theft or breaking or losing equipment.
In my experience, ski resorts are generally pretty honest places. People leave their equipment outside at lunch or apres ski and it is always there when they come to pick it up. However I'm sure theft does happen from time to time. Ski insurance can also protect you from breaking or losing things like cameras or sunglasses which are easier to do on a ski vacation than many other trips away.
Thus I think you would be mad not to get ski insurance. Too much could happen to turn your vacation from just bad to financially devastating. And this burden should be considered in the context that many insurance packages are not that expensive. However you should shop around before you get any insurance as they vary in terms of price and what they cover. Understand the terms and conditions because they can vary in terms of the benefits they give and make sure that they fit into what you will be doing over the vacation.
For the latest on resort news, skiing and snowboarding tips and reviews of equipment then visit http://www.snowboardnskiing.com - The site gives advice on types of snow skiing and some more reasons to take out skiing travel insurance. Adrian Whittle writes on skiing and snowboarding.
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