UKC

Fingers crossed we'll (myself, wife and two kids, 9 and 11.) be off to the Alps skiing in Feb half term, mix of piste and off, with an outside chance of some touring.  We also have a summer holiday to Saas Fee(ish) planned for walking, via ferrata, scrambling and climbing.

I'm trying to sort insurance.  Thinking multi-trip makes sense, as after a long time without, we may squeeze in an additional trip abroad.  Quotes are coming in about £350 for the 4 of us, which seems a lot.  Wondering about getting AAC membership for all four of us plus a general travel policy to cover the rest, which would work out more like £250.  Any comments on this, or ideas for getting cheaper insurance?

Final question - my wife is a qualified instructor (SPA).  If we got a policy that specified rock climbing with an instructor, do you think this would cover us for single pitch routes abroad?  How about via ferrata?

I've a suspicion that the insurance company will require the instructor has a valid qualification in the land in question. Ours did when I worked in Germany.

We were going to do the same with the AAC and a general policy, but the insurer said if we were climbing on the trip they wouldn't cover us for anything even if it wasn't climbing related. Not sure how they would know if it was just regarding the flights or something but I don't think you could claim for lost kit

Thanks, that's one of the things I was wondering about.  Agree it's unlikely they would find out in most circumstances, but it's never ideal knowing that technically your insurance may not be valid, and the bigger the claim the more likely it is they will try and find a way out of it.

Worth noting that the AAC medical (as opposed to rescue) cover is I think capped at €20k, so if you do end up in a private hospital in Switzerland it might not be enough. AAC ask you to call their number to arrange rescue and medevac if something happens, I guess to maximise chances of you being taken somewhere public/reciprocal for treatment, but not sure how that works in Switzerland and also how that may have changed with Brexit.

The last time I got BMC insurance it cost £45 for a week. That was a sun rock policy. On that basis, £350 for 4 people for a multi-trip policy including snow sports doesn't look all that expensive.

Cheap insurance is only cheap if it actually covers you for what you want.  Also, it's pointless asking an internet forum whether or not some things may or may not be covered - the only way to know is to ask the insurer and get confirmation in writing.

Looks like the cheapest way to do this will actually be single trip policies.  Nice to think we'll be getting away enough to justify multi-trip, but the reality is that we probably won't.  Total cost for week of skiing and week of climbing likely to be about £230.