A slippery slope
Is New Zealand leading the field in cutting ski injuries and claim costs? Is the trend towards making skiers wear helmets gaining momentum? David Kernek reports on the latest developments for the winter sports industry and its specialist insurers
Is New Zealand leading the field in cutting ski injuries and claim costs? Is the trend towards making skiers wear helmets gaining momentum? David Kernek reports on the latest developments for the winter sports industry and its specialist insurers
One of the most spectacular statistics in Sainsbury’s Bank’s recent survey of UK customers’ ski injury claims came from Bulgaria, where the velocity on the slopes seems to be matched only by the speed at which the bills for emergency treatment at clinics are soaring. Medical costs recorded during the 2011-12 season were an eye-watering 97.5-per-cent higher than those a year earlier.
But while medical costs have been heading skywards in Bulgaria and – with the exception of Italy – other European ski markets, New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has provided ITIJ with injury cost statistics that are equally spectacular, but in the reverse direction.
Safety first
Ski-related claim costs in New Zealand have fallen from NZ$11.76 million in 2009 to the $6.1-million figure recorded for 2012. It’s the result, says Miles Davidson at the NZ Snowsports Council, of a longterm injury prevention programme launched in 1999 and backed by the industry, safety bodies and the ACC. “Ski areas in New Zealand have worked for a considerable time both collectively and individually to reduce injuries, the objective being to reduce injuries to zero,” says Davidson. “Considerable progress has been made in this direction. In the past six seasons, the injury rate per thousand visits has dropped by 30 per cent from 4.68 to 3.20.”
Safety initiatives – entailing significant investment by ski resorts – cited by Davidson include:
• improved trail design and construction, clearing natural and artificial hazards;
• designated trail crews and improved signage
• machine-made snow;
• specialist safety personnel running medical and ski patrol departments;
• a Snow Responsibility Code featured on trail maps, websites and posters, and in brochures;
• a National Incidence Database, which provides ski safety officers with accident reports throughout the season;
• ensuring that key safety messages are in front of people when they hit the slopes;
• a substantial wrist guard promotion campaign targeting skiers and snowboarders;
• testing ski bindings, and establishing standards.
Back in post-Communist Bulgaria, skiers and snowboarders get bargain basement fun on the runs, while the country’s private health sector operates on the free market with the zeal of the newly converted. According to the Sainsbury’s research, the average value of claims costs in Bulgaria has remained stable, A slippery slope suggesting perhaps that the spike has been the result of a rise in the number of accidents that required expensive treatment.
A more sceptical viewpoint is that held by a Bulgarian doctor, who has asked not to be named: “I am not in the insurance business, but I have a better-thangood idea about the healthcare market in Bulgaria,” he told ITIJ. “Foreign tourists who are in need of treatment for ski and other snow sports accidents are not treated under the state’s health insurance system, so it is a free market, and one in which there is no real competition. I don’t believe prices are driven by supply and demand. I think they are harmonised among providers, and the trend is upward, with overvalued invoices.”
At brokers Infinity Insurance Solutions, managing director Stephen Howard makes a similar point: “Our own exposure in Bulgaria is quite low, but there has been an increase in medical costs in the country. Since the Communist era ended, Bulgaria’s private medical sector has grown sharply. Under the old regime, treatment would have been free or set at a standard state charge. That level playing field is no longer there, and free market prices are influencing all services.”
Britain’s younger skiers are more safety conscious on the slopes than older ones
The costs of repatriation by stretcher are also problematic, he says: “They vary enormously, as only the major airlines will entertain undertaking [such repats] with charges of hundreds of pounds per seat. The trend is now for patients to be repatriated by plane charter or air ambulance, which can be charged at anywhere from £3,000 to £9,000.” As far as claims are concerned, Greg Lawson, head of retail at Columbus Direct, says he is not convinced that like-for-like treatment costs are falling, especially in established resorts in the US and Canada. “But we have found that Eastern Europe has become more popular, with Poland, Bulgaria and Czech Republic all having growing resorts with lower costs, renovated facilities, less slope red-tape and quality snow conditions,” he told ITIJ. “However, with the growth of any new leisure resort, there can be an initial increase in claims costs simply because it takes time to build the network of medical and rescue services. Insurers need time and volume to agree discounts with local doctors and hospitals. Equally, there is potential market pressure on local medical providers to adapt pricing and quality of delivery in line with other European services over time, which might explain why, like-for-like, Bulgarian medical costs are rising as the resort’s medical services mature.”
Keep it simple
British insurer Essential Travel opened the 2012/13 ski season with its Use Your Head campaign, which made helmets mandatory for its skiing clients: no helmet, no cover. “We found that more than 70 per cent [of our] customers do wear helmets on the slopes and they pointed out that they would like to be rewarded for their safety consciousness with lower premiums,” says the company’s Stuart Bensusan. “As a result, we lowered our winter sports insurance premiums by 15 per cent and made helmet wearing mandatory for cover. It was a response to the market that tallies with our own brand value of promoting safety. It doesn’t apply just to skiers; all winter sports policies with Essential Travel require you to wear a
helmet.”
How can the policy be policed? What happens if an injured skier insists that he or she was wearing a helmet, and the treating doctor suspects the claimant is lying? Essential Travel – the first UK insurer to make helmet-wearing compulsory – is relying in part on trust and common sense. “Why would someone take advantage of our Use Your Head principles,” says Bensusan, “and then risk invalidating their cover by not wearing a helmet? It’s not about whether or not a doctor suspects the patient is lying, the doctor is there to save lives. But if the patient is or isn’t wearing a helmet, it’s recorded on the medical reports.” The company worked closely on its Use Your Head campaign with the UK’s Brain Injury Association, which endorses the no-helmet exclusion. “There is a general misconception that only a major impact will lead to death or disability from a head injury,” says the association. “However, the truth is that sometimes even minor bangs to the head can have serious consequences. With this in mind, we urge all skiers and snowboarders to use their heads and wear a helmet this season. Doing so might just save you from sustaining a lifelong disability.”
“Insurance companies are often criticised for being ambiguous,” says Essential Travel. “By stating where we stand and what we expect from our customers, everyone knows where they are. It is clear and simple.” The company says it is too early to know what effect the rule has had on head injury statistics. “We will be announcing our findings at the start of next season,” adds Bensusan.
New ski safety research by Columbus Direct suggests that Britain’s younger skiers are more safety conscious on the slopes than older ones. Its 2013 ski survey found that 66 per cent of 16-to-24-year-olds will always wear a helmet on the slopes, while almost half – 48 per cent – of those aged 55 and above said they would never wear one. A mere four per cent of older skiers said they would wear a helmet only if their insurer insisted, making it a condition of cover, compared to 26 per cent of those aged 16 to 34. More than 90 per cent of skiers in the older age group said they did not wear helmets because they ‘never have’.
“Like most insurers, cover under a Columbus policy is not based on a compulsory requirement to wear a helmet,” says Greg Lawson. “However, we would encourage all skiers to take appropriate safety precautions when on the slopes and recommend wearing helmets and other protective gear. Falling onto compacted snow on the piste at speed can be like landing on concrete, so it’s worth the investment.” Head injuries are not the only dangers that skiers ought to be thinking about as they kit up for the pistes. While head injuries account for five per cent of all ski accidents, thumb, knee and ligament damage account for 40 per cent. ‘Ski thumb’ is a common injury, caused when a skier forgets to drop their poles during a fall and snaps a thumb. Immediate surgery is needed to ensure the long-term recovery of the hand. “We are seeing a sharp increase in claims for hand, wrist and knee injuries,” says Amber Howard, brand manager at Holidaysafe.co.uk. “Snowboarders, first-time skiers and children are vulnerable because they are likely to fall frequently and awkwardly. [Furthermore,] helmets will protect skiers from collisions and minor falls, yet there is no hard evidence that they prevent fatalities. High-profile cases such as the death of British actress Natasha Richardson in Canada in 2009 triggered a major safety campaign, but helmets protect only up to 12 mph.” She added: “Elbows, arms, wrists and hands are all sensitive areas, so wearing protective gear or straps, especially for small children and beginners, will help mitigate any serious injury.”
“Skiing is not particularly an extreme sport in itself, but the conditions associated with the sport mean that it needs to be carefully considered as an insurance risk,” says Greg Lawson. “Additionally, a ski policy is tailored cover that provides several top-up benefits, from piste closure to recovery of lost lift pass costs. That said, there are still certain activities that need to be treated differently even if you have ski insurance.” While nearly all specific winter sports insurance policies will list the activities that are covered, with changing trends such as the growth of terrain parks with ramps, jumps and rails of various sizes, Lawson warned that insurers need to be clear in what they do and do not cover under a standard ski insurance policy, and convey this to the customer at the point of sale. “With the UK Consumer Insurance Act applicable from April, an insurer should ensure the customer is asked about activities or should at least highlight the excluded activities,” he advised. “If not, there will be no requirement on the customer to advise that they intend to hit the ‘super tube’ in Colorado or the freestyle academy in Les Deux Alpes.”