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YourMum 
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Post subject: Heli insurance
 Posted: Aug 06, 2012 - 09:08 AM
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First post: Oct 12, 2004
Total posts: 209
Status: Offline
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Hey, so I'm of heliboarding next winter for a week in the US and am trying to get some insurance covered. Has anyone got any recommendations?
The one's I've looked at so far have heliboarding as a bolt on and the cover doesn't seem that great, I guess I'm looking for something more specialist.... any ideas?! |
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charlie
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Post subject: RE: Heli insurance
Posted: Aug 06, 2012 - 02:48 PM
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First post: Oct 11, 2004
Total posts: 9487
Location: York
Status: Offline
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| My suggestion is to find a policy with standard cover that you're happy with and then call them to see if they'll add heli on. |
_________________
Photography
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philw
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Post subject: RE: Heli insurance
Posted: Aug 06, 2012 - 02:57 PM
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First post: Nov 30, 2004
Total posts: 643
Location: uk
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YourMum
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 06, 2012 - 05:30 PM
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First post: Oct 12, 2004
Total posts: 209
Status: Offline
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| Philw, what do you mean by 'makes sense'? Do you mean that offer cover that seems to understand how heli works? |
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moo
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 06, 2012 - 08:31 PM
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First post: Nov 24, 2004
Total posts: 353
Location: No longer Whistler
Status: Offline
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Am sure Phil will correct me on this but my feeling when I went heli and cat boarding is that in terms of rescue costs the operator will end up providing that as part of their operation. It's not quite like being in a ski resort where you would have to pay to be rescued, they are hardly going to not rescue a guest who is injured and they have the heli there already for you.
You do have the problem of how you pay for the medical costs of fixing a broken leg for eg once you get to a hospital though so I'd concentrate on that side of things.
You're probably safer at most heli/cat operations than you are in a resort, the last thing any of them are going to want is an accident. |
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theakster
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 06, 2012 - 08:36 PM
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First post: Jun 15, 2009
Total posts: 40
Status: Offline
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| I've heard good things about snowcard.co.uk but they are a bit on the pricey side. |
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philw
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 06, 2012 - 08:46 PM
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First post: Nov 30, 2004
Total posts: 643
Location: uk
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Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Most will treat it as "an add on" as you've noticed, which is probably fine for people who are taking an afternoon's tourist ride out of a resort onto some mellow snow field.
Riding heli all week with unlimited vertical in the back country isn't the same thing. When I looked some years ago I couldn't find any company who would even cover cancellation on the costs involved. Hence I self-insured. I've ridden a couple of years (365 days * 2) heli here and there since then and it's been extremely profitable for me.
In Canada at least your risk exposure isn't great, and they do have a health service. I once broke my ankle deep in the back country, which cost me zero for the evac (that's what fuel runs are for), and $50 for the medic, crutches and DF118s. I lost four days heli which was the major cost, although of course that money was already burned.
If you ever need emergency hospitalization (extremely rare), then if you can afford a week's heli then you can afford an hour's return flight to the local hospital. The biggest dangers are avalanche and tree wells, which either kill you or they don't.
If you want to insure, your best bet is probably the operator, who may have some suggestions. The market's bigger than it was. Wiegele's have a recommendation there. CMH will actually flog you insurance. A profitable business for them; they don't take much cost if you're unable to fly.
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Moo: yes, you're right.
In Canada there's the Provincial Emergency Prorgam too, so if you're near a resort you'll be lifted by them for free. I've never seen anyone charged for evac, even when it wasn't a fuel run. Sure, if you're insured, they'll charge your insurance company.
The one time I had to cancel a couple of weeks heli they didn't charge me - they want me to come back!
Medical costs - Canada has a health service; the US may be more of an issue although even there the ER has to treat you. In my view this is my own major cost risk, but even then, if I broke my leg I'd be getting it patched there and fixed here; there's no need to spend years in foreign hospitals.
Risks: I'm not sure of the actual data, but heli always feels safer than resorts. Stand at the bottom of Whistler and look at the blood wagons coming off there every 5 minutes. Collisions and hard snow are risky. My gut feeling is that with heli you may twist your ankle or you're going to die in a huge avalanche, or maybe a tree well. There's not much in between which sounds like it'll cost a zillion dollars. Ok, you could smash your teeth, but those are cheaper to fix in the US than the UK (!) |
_________________
powder mountain CoC snowboarding safety
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YourMum
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 07, 2012 - 09:47 AM
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First post: Oct 12, 2004
Total posts: 209
Status: Offline
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Cheers for the advice, I have been heliboarding before but like you say the add-on was adequate. I'll get in touch with the operator and see who they recommend, like I've said with it being in the US I want to make sure I've got good cover.
what do you mean you self insured and it was profitable? It worked out cheaper in the long run? |
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philw
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 07, 2012 - 12:48 PM
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First post: Nov 30, 2004
Total posts: 643
Location: uk
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The operators tend to be conservative of course.
I mean that I saved so much in insurance costs that I'd have to have an extra ordinary run of bad luck to lose money overall. But that makes sense because insurance is sharing risk, and I'm not inherently risky. |
_________________
powder mountain CoC snowboarding safety
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