Don't slope off without ski cover this half term

A fifth of winter sports travellers head for the mountains without cover - but this is not a very good idea. Find out why here.

By Charlotte Beugge

Around 200,000 Brits will be taking to the slopes next week for half term European skiing holidays without insurance because they erroneously believe they are sufficiently covered.

Indeed, 11% of travellers told a survey by the AA that they thought they were sufficiently covered by the free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) even though that won't cover them for emergency rescue or at the mainly private hospitals in the European resorts.

Alan Purvis, director of AA Travel Insurance, says: "More than a million people go on a snow holiday every winter so potentially, up to 200,000 are uninsured.

"Although every European traveller should take the EHIC, in fact it simply entitles UK citizens to the same level of medical care in an EU country that a local resident could expect. And the level of cover will vary from country to country."

AA says the costs a skier in a European resort could pay if they are injured while on the slopes can be astronomical. A rescue by helicopter can cost £20 a minute which could easily result in a bill of £1,000.

Four days in a hospital - many of the clinics and hospitals in resorts are privately owned - can cost between £3,000 and £8,000. Treatment for a fractured hip could cost £8,000 to £12,000 and for a dislocated shoulder, £1,000 to £2,000.

Should the injury be so bad that you need to be repatriated on a stretcher, then the cost could easily reach £10,000.

Low-cost annual travel insurance may not cover winter sports cover and even those that do may exclude some activities such as off-piste skiing or tobogganing.

The AA survey found that of those surveyed who did buy insurance, 34% said the most important factor was the limits of the cover, not the cost. More than a quarter used a price comparison site to choose a policy.