Skiing is all downhill - except for the insurance: Neasa MacErlean finds the cost of cover rising sharply for winter sports

WINTER holidaymakers this year may be put off by the 10 to 20 per cent increase in premiums introduced in most parts of the holiday insurance market.

Excesses - the amount the claimant must pay before the insurance company makes its contribution - have also generally risen from pounds 25 to pounds 30, according to Home & Overseas, the largest UK travel insurer.

'Everybody has taken the opportunity to increase their rates because everybody was losing money,' said Martin Mills, business manager at Home & Overseas.

'While the premiums have been fixed for the last few years, the costs have been zooming up. The costs of medical treatment have paid no regard to inflation - especially abroad.'

General Accident says the cost of medical claims from skiers has risen partly because, until last year, there were several seasons with poor snowfalls. Thin ground cover increases the risk of accident and injury.

GA's largest claim for medical expenses under a ski policy last year was pounds 250,000. Nearly half of the claims the company receives under such policies are for medical treatment. It may be comforting for skiers to know, however, that GA estimates that only one in 1,000 skiers ends up in plaster as a result of injuries.

Snowfalls in Europe last year were better and the outlook this year is also good. In the late Eighties insurers began to introduce no- snow cover to ski policies but GA says this has been removed from most of its policies this year. 'This is a market trend,' a spokeswoman said. 'People do not want to pay for it if they do not think they need it.'

Generally, premiums from the different insurers keep more or less in line with each other. Two weeks' skiing cover in Europe will cost about pounds 35 to pounds 40 per adult - about double the rate of a non- skiing holiday. Skiers wanting three weeks' cover in the United States now face premiums of up to pounds 100 or more.

Some insurers are bringing out more innovative travel insurance products. The AA provides cover for one-day shopping trips to France at 99p per person. At the other extreme, the National & Provincial Building Society will provide year-round, worldwide cover (including 17 days on the slopes) for pounds 75 per person.

A thousand copies of Abbey National's Winter Travel Check - including notes on choosing insurance, are available to Independent readers from Abbey National, Department 8087, Winterhill, Milton Keynes, MK6 1HQ.

----------------------------------------------------------------- WINTER TRAVEL INSURANCE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Abbey* RBS** AA* NatWest** Barclays* pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds Ski premiums: Europe 14 days 36.00 34.70 41.90 27.50 39.00 US 21 days 96.20 89.00 104.90 57.00 118.70 Medical expenses 2.5m 2m Unlimited 2m Unlimited Hospitalisation 15/day 20/day 10/day 20/day 15/day 300 max 300 max 300 max 400 max 500 max Travel delay 120 3,000 3,000 100 100 Cancellation/curtailment 2,500 3,000 3,000 3,500 2,000 Eur 3,000 wld Personal accident: Death 15,000 15,000 15,000 15,000 15,000 Permanent injury 25,000 15,000 15,000 25,000 15,000 Luggage 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 per article 300 250 200 250 250 Money 500 500 350 250 200 cash 300 250 200 Personal liability 2m 1m 1m 1m 2m Loss of passport 100 150 100 250 200 Legal expenses 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 Missed departure 400 300 150 350 500 Delayed baggage 100 100 75 250 100 *Underwritten by Home & Overseas **Underwritten by General Accident ----------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Abbey National -----------------------------------------------------------------

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