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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2002
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    33,440

    Crash - the poop on Carte Neige

    Went to Tourism in Cham yesterday to find out everything I could on Carte Neige in my unending pursuit of a ski insurance policy for the underfunded skibum (like me) who has no insurance, but is somewhat likely to get physically fukked up somewhere along the way in the pursuit of freshies.

    As it turns out Carte Neige covers the purchasor anywhere in the world for any accident that occurs while skiing or climbing. The coverage period is from October to October and any accidents must be reported via form issued at purchase and mailed to FFS (French Federation Ski) within five days of the injury.

    Only bummer is that you must purchase the policy in France. I'll be contacting FFS HQ in Annecy upon my return to the states to ask if they plan to initiate the selling of policies over the intraweb, which could easily become a major seller and a very viable means for skibums in other countries to get covered for the activities and pursuits for which they would most likely need such a policy.

    There ya go, Crash.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    33,440
    Originally posted by Mulletizer
    Ok, I checked it out. Here's roughly what you get with a standard loisirs Carte Neige (I looked earlier and can't be bothered to find the exact figures):

    - 3rd party liability insurance, upto 4.5million Euros (if you kill someone)
    - rescue fees (free in France for residents but foreigners pay) and costs of delivery to a hospital - the first 4,500 Euros of your medical expenses - good for smaller injuries, not enough for anything more serious (eg having to have surgery on a broken bone, havinga a knee scoped in France or hospital stays longer than a couple of days)
    - a hospital allowance of about 25E per 24hrs in hospital
    - some money back on skipass if your one was for more than 3 days
    - money to hire skis for up to 8 days if you break your own

    IMO That's ok but you need some more medical insurance to back this up. Sadly, bad injuries do happen (ala Sluffhunter, Particle etc) and that's when I wouldn't want to be in the shit over insurance.

    Last winter in France I had Carte Neige insurance backed up by the UK's reciprocal free healthcare agreement with France (free emergency care but you pay for materials yourself - eg syringes, plaster casts, crutches).

    For reference, some costs of rescues/med in Switzerland that people I know were involved in:
    - heli-evac in Verbier - £2000
    - one night in hospital in Martigny, Switzerland with CT scan - £2000
    - Full avalanche rescue team send-out in Verbier and evac of one fatality - £60,000, split 3 ways (these guys had no insurance...)
    Sorry, not much knowledge on France or other Euro countries' expenses.

    Edit: GB£1 ~= US$2
    Pick that info up off the FFS website, Mulletizer?

    One thing for sure, the French will keep your ski gear and then proceed to track you down, wherever you are, for rescue cost reimbursement if you don't have the Carte Neige, according to Tom.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    33,440
    Originally posted by Mulletizer
    Er, yeah, apart from the stuff from Verbier. Problem with that?
    Say what?
    You must have me confused with someone else.
    I'm expressing the question so I might investigate their policy further. Withholding, or claiming exclusivity to, information beneficial to the collective ain't me.

    Originally posted by Mulletizer
    Sounds like a good idea. BTW Carte Neige is the name of an actual product (the one Splat and I were on about) but is also a generic name for mountain insurance in France. So you can legitimately shout Carte Neige at the helicopter pilot/medics whatever insurance you have. Useful that.

    Splat: I've been on a similar mission re insurance for several years. The company that insured me when I first went to the Alps won't do seasonal policies any more. My current insurers are Snowcard (www.snowcard.co.uk) - they used to do a kickass seasonal policy and would sell to all nationalities. It was about 3 times the price of a Carte Neige but had full gear, medical and repatriation cover. Unfortunately they claim it's uneconomical to carry on doing that. I've been trying to persuade them otherwise but they aren't too keen... For now I use their annual cover - same price, great policy but limits trips to 31 days each (although you can have as many as you want). You need an address in the UK for it but I am sure you can organise that.
    I was inquiring with Carte Neige to see if they had any plans or intentions to go global via the internet because it would seem a policy like it or the snowcard would go well in the US a much larger market, maybe. Good input, Mulletizer.
    Bon journèe.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    33,440
    Mulletizer, it is safe to assume that I have the best of brotherly intentions when posting. I f I decide to be sarcastic or argumentative, it's usually blatantly obvious.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    33,440
    Originally posted by Hayduke
    You can get the carte neige on a daily basis, costs around EUR 2.50 per day. Just tell them you want it when you buy your lift pass.
    The only problem on getting it on the daily basis on the Midi is that you have to buy a return ticket to get the insurance. When you do the math compared to buying a one way trip (depends completely on how many laps you plan on doing - for instance a photo session will usually be only one lap) the purchase of a season's Carte Neige is around 50 Euro, but you'll pay an extra 10 Euro to get the return plus insurance. In other words, I highly recommend getting a season's worth of coverage as soon as you hit Cham. Might come in handy later somewhere else.

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