Does anyone know or have experience of the limits of the AAC insurance, which I know covers actual rescue, but not sure to what extent it would cover (if at all) an extended hospitalisation in any Alpine country along with any associated costs up to repatriation?
MarkAdams
Hi Brian,
This information is available on the AAC website at https://www.alpenverein.at/portal_wAssets/docs/service/versicherung/AWS-Folder_E_2023_ebook.pdf
Basically you're covered for up to 25000 Euros for the rescue (Worldwide) which gets you directly to a hospital or nearest accessible road (for transport to hospital), there's a limit of 10,000 Euros for the local medical treatment but the cost of repatriation home is unlimited i.e. the policy is designed to get you back to your own health system asap - certainly if a local hospital stay of more than 5 days is expected. You can increase the medical cover to 500,000 Euros by taking out an extra policy (https://alpenverein.sichermitknox.com/einzelreiseschutz) which is pretty reasonably priced e.g. 25 Euros for 17 days cover in Europe.
regards,
Mark Adams
BrianMead
Many thanks Mark,
So I'm wondering if most members also take out a general travel insurance to cover the other usual travel type risks, such as taken ill (not on mountain) and maybe needing some sort of treatment? Travel insurance for me seems to have gone up an eye watering amount this year, presumably now I'm 70!
Cheers
Brian
HenryBeakbane
Although I have tried to follow previous discussions about insurance & have researched Which etc, I haven't found any reliable information about combining different insurance policies. (No insurance person will make any definite statement “for legal reasons”).
So I have taken out both AAC (also for other club benefits) and BMC ski touring.
Luckily I haven't needed to make a claim for several decades. (No problem claiming back then, even though I smashed my arm and Erna Low went bust on the same day!).
I wonder if one has 2 overlapping policies, will they quibble about which one is valid?
ArthurRichardson
My wife broke her hip in Avoriaz 2020. AAC insurance covered piste rescue, medical centre examination and XR, ambulance, medicines (pain killers, post op anti coagulation injections, even support stockings and crutches). EHIC card covered hospital operation cost at CHAL. They did not cover taxi and hire car for my visiting and return to Avoriaz and CHAL. The problem was that AAC use Knox insurance which insist that all possible cost must be claimed from UK NHS (and any other insurance appropriate cover you may have) before they will accept a claim for the balance. NHS insist on originals of all bills and invoices and do not guarantee return of any they do not pay. I eventually got round this by getting a letter from NHS confirming this and then sent the whole claim (over 50 documents) to Knox who eventually paid the total amount amounting to about €2000. The Austrian lady at Knox who handles the claim was efficient and very pleasant. I continue to rely on AAC insurance and my UK global health card. BTW my wife is back skiing, not bad at 73 years old!
AndrewKydd
A cautionary insurance tale for anyone who thinks Ski Touring and Ski Mountaineering are pretty much the same thing - maybe exacerbated by the age factor. I looked up SCGB (I'm still a member for some reason) and they quoted £200 for a week for their standard package, covering off-piste, ski touring (with or without a guide I think) plus all the standard travel risks (including covid I think). Looked decent cover but expensive (but then I wasn't 70 the last time I did this!). BUT, when I ticked the box for Ski Mountaineering, the premium went up to £900! Yes, £900. So do check your policy, and think about what you do out there - is what you're doing today touring or mountaineering? Snowcard seems to be no problem.