A recent survey by independent research company Defaqto has found that 13% of single trip travel insurance policies are failing to offer any type of cover for winter sports trips, and the polices which do provide cover for winter activities vary widely in what is covered and what isn’t.

As the winter starts to kick in, many of us may be planning a skiing or snowboarding trip to the Alps, however before you get your skis on, it’s worth double checking your travel insurance policy to ensure you have adequate cover should you encounter a problem while out in the snow.

The research by Defaqto found there were major discrepancies between the types of cover offered for winter sports holidays as 80% of those travel insurance policies examined offered less than £1,000 of cover for theft or loss of sports equipment, while over half of those policies offered less than £500 and 6% offered no cover whatsoever for theft of equipment.

In the event that the Piste is closed due to severe weather conditions or a serious accident, 56% of the policies examined offered cover of £20 or less per day, while 5% offered no cover at all and 43% had a maximum limit of £2,000.

For natural disasters such as avalanches, 16% of policies looked at by Defaqto offered £500 or more, while a third of travel insurance policies offered £200 or less while 20% offered no avalanche cover at all.

So the message to take from this latest research is to thoroughly check your travel insurance policy covers you for the aspects of your trip which are most important, and also the cheapest option isn’t always the best as it could cost you dear in the long run if it fails to cover you for a problem you encounter.