Cross-country skiing is one of the few winter sports that usually does fall within the ordinary winter sports module, which moves the discussion to where you ski and whether you are wearing a race number.
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In brief
On a prepared trail, cross-country skiing counts for most insurers as ordinary winter sport. There is no high-speed descent, no lift use and no off-piste question. Anyone with travel insurance including a winter sports module is therefore usually covered for medical expenses, accident and transport home. Do check that the module names the sport specifically and does not only speak of skiing and snowboarding.
Two situations, however, take you out of that. The first is backcountry touring: as soon as you leave the marked trail and travel across open snow-covered terrain, insurers treat that as off-piste, with all the restrictions that go with it. See also off-piste skiing and snowboarding.
The second is the tour with timing. The big loppets in which thousands take part are formally competitions, even if you start at the back and only want to finish. Taking part in competitions is separately excluded on virtually every policy. With cross-country skiing that is the mistake most often made, precisely because it does not feel like a race.
What does your insurance cover for cross-country skiing?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The essentials
Declare in advance
What you do not declare is not covered.
Notify before departure
Surcharge or separate module
Also for one-off participation
Note all three
Three covers
They do not always run in step.
Medical expenses
Accidents and disability
Liability
Emergency assistance centre
In an accident
Call before you incur costs.
Arranging a guarantee
Salvage and repatriation
Keep all receipts
What is covered
Situation
Standard
With extension
Medical expenses after an accident
No
Yes
Rescue and salvage costs
No
Yes
Permanent disability
No
Sometimes
Liability towards third parties
Sometimes
Yes
Taking part in competition
No
Sometimes
Taking part without the required qualification
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
A race number makes it a competition
Tours with entry, start pens and timing fall under the exclusion for taking part in competitions, whatever your ambition or finishing time. The training for them is often included too. So declare taking part separately, apart from the winter sports module. If you do not, it is not only the accident during the tour that falls outside the cover, but argument also arises about injury sustained while preparing for it.
Trail or open terrain
The marked and prepared trail is the boundary. If you travel on wide touring skis across untreated terrain, avalanche risk is added and the insurer treats it as off-piste practice. That calls for an extension and sometimes for a guide. State which of the two you intend when you apply; anyone doing both must declare the more demanding variant to keep the cover.
Hypothermia and the distance to help
Cross-country injuries are usually a wrist, shoulder or knee after a fall in the track. The real risk on long trails is something else: exhaustion and cooling down when you are alone and there are kilometres between you and a road. In the event of an accident, call the emergency assistance centre before you arrange transport yourself, because a snowmobile or taxi you call out yourself is often not paid for without consent.
What is not covered
Usually outside the cover are: taking part in competitions and the training for them, cross-country skiing on a closed or unprepared trail, using a floodlit night trail outside its opening hours, and tours in an area with a declared avalanche risk. For your equipment, wear, poles broken through your own doing and damage while actually skiing are not luggage damage.
What does your premium depend on?
Trail or backcountry touring. Marked terrain often falls within the module; open snow-covered terrain calls for an extension.
Taking part in tours. Tours with timing count as competitions and must be declared separately.
Number of winter sports days. Some policies limit the number of winter sports days covered per insurance year.
Destination. Trails in central Europe, Scandinavia or outside Europe lead to different repatriation costs.
Equipment included. Your own skis, boots and poles are declared as luggage, with a limit per set.
Number of people insured. Family composition and the age of the participants count in the set-up of the policy.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Is cross-country skiing in my winter sports module?
On prepared trails, usually yes. Do note that some modules name only skiing and snowboarding. Ask the insurer for a confirmation in which cross-country skiing is expressly stated, certainly if you also skate-ski. Without that confirmation, argument can arise when you claim about which activity exactly was insured.
I am taking part in a tour with a race number. Do I have to declare it?
Yes. A tour with entry and timing is a competition in insurance terms, even if for you it is a challenge ride without ambition. Taking part in competitions is separately excluded on virtually every policy. Declare it in advance and ask for a written extension naming the event or the period.
Is my own cross-country equipment insured?
As luggage, against theft and against damage from outside, for example during transport or in a break-in at a store. A ski that breaks while you are skiing is damage through use and falls outside the cover, as does wear. Store the set overnight in a locked room and keep the purchase receipt for establishing the value.
What if I leave the trail?
Then the insurer treats it as off-piste practice with the restrictions that go with it, even where you only glide across a snow-covered field. With backcountry touring in mountainous country, avalanche risk is added and some insurers require supervision. Declare it in advance. Afterwards, the GPS record on your watch is hard to argue away.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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