Moneysupermarket: Nearly one in four skiers uninsured

Financial comparison website moneysupermarket.com has claimed that 28 per cent of people who go skiing on holiday do not have insurance cover for winter sports.

Of those skiers that do insure themselves, only half are certain that they are fully covered against injury or accident, despite the fact that these winter holidaymakers spend on average four hours skiing each day.

Some 12 per cent of people asked said that they did not have travel insurance at all and another 22 per cent said they couldn’t remember if they had purchased a policy.

Peter Gerrard, moneysupermarket researcher, advised all people planning on taking a winter skiing holiday to check their policy carefully and be aware of certain factors which could invalidate their cover.

"It is a little known fact, but virtually every travel insurance policy on the market includes a clause that says if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time an incident occurred, you may not be able to make a claim as your policy may be rendered invalid," he said.

"Of course, there will be plenty of people taking advantage of the apres-ski on offer, but it is extremely important that people try to be sensible about alcohol consumption – particularly when returning to the ski slopes after a drink or two."