Enjoy winter sports with the right insurance coverage
The popularity of winter sports is at an all-time high! While it’s essential to dress properly to shield yourself from the cold, it’s also important to have the right insurance coverage.
Whether you enjoy sledding, skating or walking in the forest, here’s an overview of the coverages you could use for your next winter sports getaway.
The different types of insurance
Good news: you may already be covered for certain things!
Some insurance plans may already include incidents or unforeseen events that could occur during your winter activities. However, other situations may require you to take out specific insurance. It all depends on your situation and the event requiring potential coverage.
Home insurance
Legal liability
Even if you’re not at home, your home insurance can protect you from potentially costly unforeseen events. For instance, legal liability is included in home insurance policies. It covers bodily injury or property damage you may involuntarily cause another person anywhere in the world.
In concrete terms, if you were responsible for a collision with another skier on the slopes, you could be sued, and your legal liability coverage could assume your defence. If you’re at fault, your personal liability insurance may allow compensation to be paid to the injured person.
Clothing and equipment
Many winter sports require expensive specialized equipment or clothing. Even more so if you’re a tech-savvy sports enthusiast! Home insurance generally covers your equipment if it’s stolen or damaged by an unforeseen event during transportation, even if the event occurred when you were away from home.
Think about it!
Are you a parent?
Check: Your home insurance policy potentially covers your full-time student children’s belongings.
Are you a tenant?
Note: Tenant home insurance could cover this type of damage, including legal liability.
Good to know
However, certain limitations apply in the event of a claim. If your equipment is very valuable, make sure you have adequate coverage. Take a look at your home insurance policy or contact your insurer to check whether the insurance amount covers your needs.
Travel insurance
Want to go skiing at Blue Mountain? Or explore the snow-covered trails between the Whistler and Blackcomb summits? To fully enjoy these activities, you’d better have travel insurance if you’ll be travelling outside your home province. This type of insurance is affordable and is sometimes even included with certain credit cards (often for a limited number of days) or group insurance plans. It could protect you from certain unwanted healthcare bills.
As a general rule, depending on the selected options, travel insurance covers:
- Emergency healthcare
- Accidents
- Trip cancellation
- Emergency return trip
- Lost, stolen or delayed baggage, or replacement of certain important documents
Up to your policy’s insurance amount.
Exceptions
Some sports aren’t covered by conventional travel insurance. For certain insurers, these include freestyle skiing, ice climbing and certain extreme or acrobatic sports such as snowboarding obstacle courses (snowboard cross)! Many insurers don’t cover professional sports activities (for compensation) and events with cash prizes either.
Check with your insurer whether the sport you’re practising is excluded or not.
Disability insurance
What would you do if a senseless accident forced you to stop working for a while? Adequate disability insurance could help you meet your financial obligations if you were temporarily without income. You could then focus on your recovery with peace of mind.
Of course, in the event of death, life insurance is the ultimate coverage.
The next step before practising your winter sport?
By contacting your insurer or financial security advisor, you can find out more about the coverages, potential limitations and deductibles included in your insurance plan.
Protect your health and avoid disappointment in the event of an incident. Have a great winter!