What’s winter sports insurance?
Winter sports insurance (or winter sports cover) financially protects you and your equipment if anything goes wrong on your skiing or winter sports holiday.
By adding winter sports cover, you will have cover from your core travel insurance as well as protection for things like lost or damaged gear, piste closure and costs for hired equipment you’re too ill or injured to use.
If you plan on doing a winter sports activity, you need to add this specialist cover when buying your regular travel insurance policy. You won’t be covered for any part of your trip without it, such as cover for medical emergencies or trip cancellation (including where the claim is unrelated to winter sports activities).
Choose from three levels of cover
You can choose from three levels of cover to suit your budget and needs.
| Admiral | Admiral Gold |
Admiral Platinum |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Lost, stolen or damaged ski equipment | £500 | £750 | £1,000 |
| Piste closure | £20 per day (Max £200) |
£20 per day (Max £200) |
£20 per day (Max £200) |
| Ski pack cover for illness or injury | £250 per week (Max £500) |
£250 per week (Max £500) |
£250 per week (Max £500) |
| Delays caused by avalanche | £200 | £300 | £450 |
| Replacement equipment hire | £25 per day (Max £250) |
£25 per day (Max £250) |
£25 per day (Max £250) |
Single article limits for my winter sports equipment
We've covered our cover limits for your ski equipment above - but it's important to note that single article limits apply. But what does this mean?
We have a £250 single article limit.
This means that if you're a Platinum customer (meaning you have a £1,000 limit), and you need to claim for two bits of equipment worth £250 and £300, for example, the maximum amount you can receive is £500.
It’s important to note you’ll also need to pay an excess. Claims will be considered on a new for old basis, provided the item is less than 1 year old at the time of the incident. All other items will be subject to a deduction for wear and tear. You can view how depreciation can affect your claim by visiting: https://www.admiral.com/existing-customers/make-a-claim.php/travel.
Which winter sports are covered?
Our Winter Sports Insurance covers:
- cross country skiing
- dry slope skiing and snowboarding
- snowboarding
- glacier walking/trekking
- husky sledge driving
- ice hockey
- mono-skiing
- snowmobiles
- sledging
- snowshoeing
- tobogganing
- reindeer sleigh ride
- riding skidoos or snowmobiles
- skiing
Some of these activities may exclude personal accident and legal liability cover. Please check the policy book for more details. If you want to take part in an activity not on the list, please call us on 0333 234 9913 to discuss your options.
Will I need to pay an excess if I make a claim?
If you need to make a claim, you may need to pay an excess. This depends on what you're making a claim for, as not every type of claim you make on your winter sports cover includes an excess.
Under our winter sports cover, you won't need to pay an excess if you claim for:
- unused ski pack cover (hired ski equipment, ski school fees or lift passes)
- piste closure for more than 24 hours
- delays caused by avalanche
If you claim for anything other than those three situations, you'll need to pay an excess. The amount of excess you pay depends on which level of cover you have.
It's important to remember that excess is charged for each person claiming, and for each incident being claimed on.
Check out our excess limits below.
| Admiral | Admiral Gold |
Admiral Platinum |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Excess | £100 | £75 | £50 |
What isn’t covered?
There are some situations which we don’t cover. For a full list of exclusions, check your policy book.
Off-piste activities
We won't cover any claim that happened due to off-piste activities such as skiing or snowboarding, away from recognised paths or outside the resort boundaries and if not accompanied by a qualified guide or instructor.
Wear and tear to equipment
We don't cover damage to your winter sports equipment that was the result of general wear and tear over time.
Careless behaviour
If your claim was due to you acting deliberately malicious, careless, or neglectful, we won't cover your claim.
Unattended items
Unless your equipment was stored in a ski rack between 10am and 8pm, or properly secured (for instance, in a ski locker), we don’t cover any loss or damage to items that were left unattended.
Are there any age restrictions for ski insurance?
We don’t offer the upgrade to anyone over 75 years old for trips within Europe and over 70 years old for trips outside of Europe.
Do I need annual or single trip winter sports cover?
If you’re planning a one-off ski trip of 21 days or less, our single trip insurance with the winter sports add-on will probably suit you.
If you intend to go on multiple winter sports holidays, our annual Travel insurance with the winter sports add-on may suit you better.
This would cover you for every holiday you take in a year, up to 31 days per trip. But bear in mind you can only do a maximum of 21 days of winter sports throughout the year during your policy term.
What destinations are covered?
Europe
Off to hotspots like Val D'Isere or Zermatt? This falls under our European cover.
America and Canada
Head to skiing destinations like Aspen or Whistler with our worldwide cover.
Japan
Looking further afield to destinations like Taseko in Japan? Our worldwide cover will protect you.
We never cover areas where the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have advised against travelling to, even if you consider travel there essential.
Pre-existing conditions and winter sports
If you’ve got a pre-existing condition and want to get winter sports cover with us, you must declare it.
If you don’t tell us about your pre-existing conditions or give us incorrect information, your policy may be invalid, and we may refuse all or part of any claim you make.
Your pre-existing conditions won’t be covered unless you’ve:
- Declared them all on your policy
- Received written confirmation that we’ll cover your medical condition
- Paid any additional premium in full
The MoneyHelper directory
If you need cover for more serious medical conditions, MoneyHelper may be able to help you find specialist travel insurance through their medical directory.
If you want to get in touch with them, you can call them on 0800 138 7777 or find their medical directory online. (Monday to Friday 8:00-18:00, closed on Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays.)