Carte Neige

Vish <vishebay1@> wrote:

: My question is, will a marshall accept this in the event of an
: accident, or do I need Carte Neige insurance specifically?

Very few foreign tourists will need Carte Neige if their travel insurance will
pay for rescue....the pisteurs will do what is necessary to rescue people first
and want payment later (but may hold the skis hostage)!

It may help to carry a card indicating insurance cover if the company provides
this.

Some people in a group I was with once DID need to buy daily Carte Neige cover
for "off piste" lessons with the SCGB - as it was uncertain if their travel
insurance would cover this.

Ace wrote:
> On 3 Oct 2005 07:01:17 -0700, "Vish" <vishebay1@> wrote:
> <snip>
>
> Oh, I'd also check whether the AMEX policy covers you for skiing
> off-piste. Most such things don't.

That's one of the good things with the Amex Ski insurance - it covers off
piste (with or without a guide) subject to local conditions, how experienced
and how 'sensible' you are (not sure how measurable the last one is!).

Ace <seesig@virgin.net> wrote:

: OI! The Ski Club don't give lessons. At all.

: We do take groups off-piste, though, and yes, we expect them to have
: sufficient cover, although it's not our responsibility to ensure that
: they have it.

Sorry! That's what I meant!!!!

I don't know how complete the Amex coverage is.

I had Carte Neige coverage when I gut hurt at Val d'Isere. I was able
to ride a lift down to the base, so I did not need ski patrol services.
I went to the doctor's office in Val, and they reimbursed me for those
expenses. They would have transported me from Val to Paris CDG, but I
was mobile and had a prepaid train ticket (and easy transportation to
Bourg St. Maurice), so they arranged to have an ambulance with a
wheelchair meet me at Gare de Lyon which took me to CDG. If I had
driven a car, they would have transported me, my passengers, and my
vehicle back home (probably limited to western Europe).

A freind of mine got hurt off-piste at Val. They paid for the
helicopter evacuation and the medical services in Val.

My judgement is that you may be able to get Amex to reimburse you after
the fact, but that Carte Neige is in a much better position to give you
full service support with minimal paperwork. Since my French is very
minimal, I was happy that I did not have to rely on my own resources.

There are other ski insurance companies that advertise heaviily in
London. They are probably cheaper than Carte Neige, but I would
question how thorough their service is.

As an American, I would get Carte Neige coverage, even if I had other
insurance that would just reimburse me with no other added services.

Ace wrote:
> Even with Carte Neige it's up
> to the indured to fill in and send off a claim form after the event

Sure, but it was easy, and they had forms in English (maybe also
available in other common European languages?). I looked into it. If
I had needed to file a claim with my American medial insurer, I would
have had to get all of the documents translated from French to English.
If I had had to arrange all of my own transportation, I am not sure
how I would have gotten myself from Gare de Lyon to CDG in a way that
would have been reimbursable and hassle-free. I think there would have
been considerable diffculty trying to get my insurance to pay for a
taxi from GdL to CDG, or even the metro/RER fares (which, in my injured
state, would have been impractical). I guess, if my priority were to
make sure everything looked medically related, I could have hired an
ambulance from Val to CDG and then applied for reimbursement, but I was
not really concerned about satisfying the burueacratic requirements of
my insurer.

> I'd suggest that this is simply overkill.

If I were living in Europe, fluent in French, knowledgeable about how
to work with the French infrastructure, and not in pain, I would
probably agree. In addition to covering all expenses (not just the
major medical ones), Carte Neige provides services that I consider
useful.

jfeng@my-deja.com wrote:
> Ace wrote:
>
>> Even with Carte Neige it's up
>>to the indured to fill in and send off a claim form after the event
>
>
> Sure, but it was easy, and they had forms in English (maybe also
> available in other common European languages?). I looked into it. If
> I had needed to file a claim with my American medial insurer, I would
> have had to get all of the documents translated from French to English.
> If I had had to arrange all of my own transportation, I am not sure
> how I would have gotten myself from Gare de Lyon to CDG in a way that
> would have been reimbursable and hassle-free. I think there would have
> been considerable diffculty trying to get my insurance to pay for a
> taxi from GdL to CDG, or even the metro/RER fares (which, in my injured
> state, would have been impractical). I guess, if my priority were to
> make sure everything looked medically related, I could have hired an
> ambulance from Val to CDG and then applied for reimbursement, but I was
> not really concerned about satisfying the burueacratic requirements of
> my insurer.
>
>
>>I'd suggest that this is simply overkill.
>
>
> If I were living in Europe, fluent in French, knowledgeable about how
> to work with the French infrastructure, and not in pain, I would
> probably agree. In addition to covering all expenses (not just the
> major medical ones), Carte Neige provides services that I consider
> useful.
>

My philosophy about insurance is to never have the same risk covered
twice by two different insurance companies. In the event of a claim I
think they will spend the next 50 years each claiming it was the others
liability. Am I just a cynic?

John

John Elgy wrote
> My philosophy about insurance is to never have the same risk covered
> twice by two different insurance companies. In the event of a claim I
> think they will spend the next 50 years each claiming it was the others
> liability. Am I just a cynic?

You have philosophy, which can be nice and comforting (and I would
guess that you do not live in the USA). I have real, practical
experience. Carte Neige paid everything they promised, all the
injury-related expenses in France, and also took care of me. They did
not even ask me about any other insurance coverage. If they had given
me crummy service and tried to low-ball me on the coverage, I would be
reporting that experience.

PG wrote:
> So for approx £35 for a year

Aha! That may help explain our difference in attitutes. I paid a lot
less for coverage for one week, and it was sold as an optional addition
to my six-day lift ticket.