We reveal the best travel insurance for winter sports, including skiing and snowboarding, covering piste closure, personal equipment and more.
Dean Sobers Senior researcher & writer
In this article
Ski insurance, also known as winter sports insurance, is a specific kind of travel insurance tailored to cover anything that might go wrong on a skiing or snowboarding holiday. It typically comes as an add-on to normal travel insurance.
Winter sports cover includes ski and snowboard equipment, medical treatment and the costs that come with ski-related injuries - which aren't usually covered by travel insurance.
Here we reveal the policies most highly-rated by our experts.
Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of an insurer before committing to any financial products.
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Insurancewith PlatinumTable note: Our winter sports score rates how comprehensive the cover is - the higher the better. From our survey of insurers in April 2023. See our full methodology below.
Winter sports cover available as an add-on.
NFU Mutual's Home and Lifestyle policy jointly topped the table with a score of 78%.
It covers cancellation or delays for avalanches and, if on the rare occasion you find your holiday impacted by piste closures, you can claim up to £500 under cancellation. Personal and hired ski equipment is covered up to £500 whether items are lost, damaged or stolen, but you must make sure to report any theft to the police within 24 hours.
NFU Mutual also offers winter sports cover with its Bespoke policy. Overall it scored slightly lower at 74%, it offers the same level of cover for medical expenses, (£5 million), but there is a considerably higher excess of £250 compared to £50 under the Home and Lifestyle policy. It still may be a better option if you own expensive ski equipment as the policy offers twice as much cover for personal or hired equipment up to £1,000.
Winter sports cover included as standard.
The Barclays Travel Pack Worldwide - which tied for first place - is one of the few policies that includes cover for winter sports as a standard part of its travel insurance policy. Around one in five of the 161 policies we analysed this year include winter sports cover.
Cover is available for a maximum of 31 days per year but you can increase the number of days for an added premium cost. There’s an extensive £10 million limit for medical expenses which includes cover for emergency rescue services.
Personal ski equipment is covered for loss, theft, and damage up to a modest £500 but you’ll need to put up a £50 excess and this cover doesn’t extend to hired equipment.
It's also best to check the policy exclusions for certain winter sports because some activities such as freestyle skiing or snowboarding aren't included.
Most ski trip insurance policies will cover the following:
Getting injured on the slopes can be expensive. There's the cost of the treatment, which - depending on where you are - may be covered by the new Ehic replacement, the Ghic . But there's also the price of air ambulance rescue from the mountains and of medical repatriation if you need to be sent home.
Most ski insurance policies will cover emergency medical treatment costs up to the millions - however, rescue cover can be capped at a lower amount.
If your skis, sticks or snowboards are damaged, stolen, or go missing, most policies will cover you for a few hundred pounds, although some go into the thousands. You can claim back the cost of your own equipment, or for hiring replacement equipment.
If you have to cancel or cut short your trip due to an injury, you can claim back the cost of what you missed. Cancellation limits range from £500-£15,000.
Very specific to winter sports breaks, ski insurance will cover you if an avalanche delays your skiing.
You can claim for this if you can't ski because the piste is closed. It will normally have to be closed for a certain amount of time first.
Ski insurance can also cover events such as death, overseas funerals and legal costs for causing injury to others or damaging someone else's property.
Check each policy carefully to see what it will and won't cover before you decide on an insurer.
While considering specialised winter travel insurance, make sure you understand what isn’t covered.
If you go off the main ski paths and have an accident, your insurance may not cover the medical costs for that situation.
If you get an injury during apres-ski or while doing winter sports under the influence of drugs or alcohol, your insurance might not cover it.
For some policies, if you leave your belongings in public spaces or in plain sight, leading to theft, your policy may not provide coverage.
Your policy is unlikely to cover you if you travel against the advice of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. It's worth checking the country that you're travelling to by verifying travel advisories from the FCDO here
Some policies require the use of specific safety equipment, such as helmets, for insurance coverage to apply. Failing to comply may mean that your policy is voided.
Certain extreme winter sports like heli-skiing, glacier climbing, and base jumping may not be covered by standard policies. Check if your activities require extra cover or specialist insurance.
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Probably. Before buying ski insurance, check if your travel insurance covers winter sports.
If you're going skiing on a package holiday, check if insurance is included in the price you pay and what it covers.
Bear in mind that the European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) and the new Global Health Insurance Card (Ghic) don't cover the cost of rescue from the slopes, which can run into tens of thousands of pounds.
A degree of winter sports insurance is now mandatory for skiers in Italy under a law that came into force in January 2022.
Many aspects of a ski trip are not covered by standard insurance policies. This is because winter sports holidays have a number of risks that other trips do not.
If your insurance policy doesn't cover winter sports, you won't be covered for a huge number of unfortunate mishaps that could happen while you're away.
Regular travellers with annual insurance policies might be an exception here. It's worth checking your policy to see if it already covers winter sports. Some annual policies may include a certain number of days' ski insurance cover. Ask your insurer if you're not sure.
You could also already have winter sports cover as part of a packaged bank account travel policy. Again, check to find out.
As with any kind of insurance, our first tip for finding cheap ski insurance is to shop around, rather than automatically buying from the holiday provider.
You can do this by using a price comparison site (just tick the 'winter sports' box when entering your details and requirements).
Don't forget to check insurers who aren't on comparison sites just in case they have better offers.
Age limits tend to vary from insurer to insurer - while some won't cover people over the age of 65, others have no upper age limit.
If you find yourself offered very high premiums it could be worth finding a specialist insurer or broker (see below). But it's worth getting quotes from comparison sites first as there's no requirement to get 'senior'-branded cover.
As with standard travel insurance, you may be able to get ski insurance if you have a pre-existing medical condition, but it could cost you more. This is because insurers may perceive you to be more likely to claim for medical assistance.
Alternately, insurers may exclude claims connected with your condition.
offer directories of specialist insurance firms that may be able to offer you comprehensive cover with a lower premium - although these quotes should be compared with those from standard insurers.
Find out more about how to get the best cover when you have a pre-existing condition with our guide to medical conditions travel insurance .
Our editorial independence means we are able to work on behalf of consumers, not insurers. That means our reviews are fair and there's no hidden agenda.
Our winter sports policy score is our rating of the winter-sports elements of travel insurance policies.
In April 2023, we surveyed 56 travel insurance companies about their levels of cover and analysed 161 of their policies.
Initially, we score specific product elements out of five, reflecting how competitive each provider is in that area compared with other insurers. Then, based on our assessment of which elements are more or less important for customers choosing and using policies, we adjust the impact that each element has on the overall score.
We only looked at elements that were named in all policies. For instance, some providers offer ski pack cover (for unused lessons) and we didn't rate that.
Claims performance, service and price aren't taken into account - just the levels of cover.
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Find the right policy for your holiday using the service provided by Confused.com
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