Declare it under the right name
- Notify us before you leave
- Ask for written confirmation
- Even for a single flight
French Alps · tandem flight · air sport
Paragliding and your insurance
Parapente is the French name for canopy flying. You often book it locally in a ski village; for your Dutch policy it remains an air sport.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Parapente en uw verzekering.
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- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your situation
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
French and Swiss bookings say paragliding where we say canopy flying. The name on the form makes no difference to your cover: your insurer looks at the activity, and that falls under air sports. On most travel and accident policies that is excluded.
Typically the flight is booked on the spot, between two days on the slopes, with a local école de parapente. That operator has its own liability insurance, but that covers its liability, not your medical costs or your repatriation.
Do not count on the European health insurance card either. It gives access to local care, but no repatriation and no mountain rescue. Those two items are precisely the ones that mount up after an accident on a mountainside.
What is covered with parapente?
Three questions: has the sport been declared, who is the operator and who pays for the recovery.
The local operator
Its insurance covers its mistakes, not your costs.
- Ask about the pilot's licence
- Keep the booking confirmation
- Read what you sign
Rescue and repatriation
The health card does not cover transport home.
- Call the emergency assistance centre first
- Arranging a guarantee
- Keep invoices and the report
What is covered
| Situation | Standard | With extension |
|---|---|---|
| Medical costs in France after an accident | No | Yes |
| A tandem flight with a recognised school | No | Provided that |
| Flying solo with your own canopy and licence | No | Provided that |
| Repatriation to the Netherlands | No | Yes |
| Mountain rescue after landing outside the field | No | Yes |
| Speed riding or acrobatic flying | No | No |
What is actually covered is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) that you receive in advance.
Where things go wrong in practice
Two points that go wrong precisely on a holiday flight.
The operator's insurance is not your insurance
A French school has a responsabilité civile, comparable to our liability insurance. It only pays if the school or the pilot makes a mistake, assessed under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code or the French equivalent. If things go wrong without any fault, you fall back on your own policy — and that generally excludes air sports.
The air sports exclusion applies to a single flight as well
The standard exclusions are air sports, mountain sports off the beaten track, diving below your certified depth and speed contests. Even a fifteen-minute flight as a passenger falls under the first of these. Declare it in advance; declaring it afterwards no longer changes the cover.
What does your premium depend on?
- Risk class of the sport — air sports are in the highest
- Tandem or solo — acceptance varies widely
- Destination — the French Alps or outside Europe
- Duration of the trip — a single week or continuous cover
- Sums insured — mainly for repatriation and disability
- Excess — lowers or raises the premium
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, risk and 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.
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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.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
Is parapente something other than paragliding?
No, it is the same sport under a French name. Your insurer assesses the activity, not the term on the booking. In both cases it is an air sport and the same exclusions apply.
Am I covered through the French school?
Only for damage caused by a mistake by the school or the pilot. Your own medical costs, mountain rescue and repatriation run through your travel insurance, and that policy must have accepted the sport.
Does my European health insurance card help?
Only to a limited extent. It gives access to local care on local terms, but it does not cover transport back to the Netherlands or mountain rescue. Those are exactly the items that make an accident in the mountains expensive.
What should I arrange in advance?
Report the flight to your insurer and ask in writing whether air sports are included. Note the number of the emergency assistance centre and keep the school's booking confirmation with the pilot's name and licence.
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Similar pages
Are you booking a parapente flight?
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About our service
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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This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.