There’s no doubt that skiing and snowboarding are extremely popular, research by ski-injury.com estimates that there are currently more than 200 million skiers and 70 million snowboarders in the world today. In the winter season 2010/11, American resorts alone recorded an enormous 60.1 million visits, just short of their record of 60.5m set in 2007/08. In the UK, it is estimated that over £500m is spent every year on snow sports and over one million British people are set to take to the slopes this winter.
We are often led to believe it’s a dangerous pastime but according to welovetoski.com latest research shows that statically you are in more danger fishing or playing table tennis. However, when injuries do occur they can range from relatively mild such as knee injuries, lower leg fractures, and wrist sprains, to more severe, life-altering conditions such as serious head and spinal injuries, and even death.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) state that only around 10,000 British skiers and snowboarders (less than 1%) visit hospitals each winter on their return from their wintersports holiday; with skiing injuries and snowboarding injuries ranging from concussion and broken bones to torn ligaments. According to research by organisations worldwide, including the largely respected www.mdem.org, it is agreed that roughly for every 1000 people skiing on a particular day less than three skiers will sustain an injury that requires medical treatment. For snowboarders the figure rises to four.
Skiing and snowboarding accidents include:
Fatigue is one of the most common factors that leads to skiing accidents
Many skiing injuries are the result of an isolated fall; these are often either because of user error, loss of control or travelling too fast for the conditions.
10% of skiing accidents arise from a collision
5% are lift related
5% of skiing accidents are a result of equipment failure (e.g. binding releasing inadvertently)
25% of skiingaccidents are caused by collision with a tree, pylon or other people. Of these 60-70% require hospital admission
Despite the relatively low risk it is still vitally important to make sure you are properly prepared. It’s important to make sure that your travel insurance covers the sporting activities you are thinking of doing. The most comprehensive travel insurance policies will offer at least £2 million of medical cover and include the cost of an air ambulance to get you home, should this be required.
Even with travel insurance you will normally be expected to pay for minor claims which you can then claim the money back for when you get home. Therefore make sure you keep receipts for any money you spend.
If you suffer a skiing injury or accident abroad then it’s important to do the following:
Report the skiing accident or snowboarding accident to the organiser of the activity
Report the accident to your package organiser’s representative
If there is no rep, then report it to the organisers head office in the UK
Ensure the accident is recorded in any available accident book & ask for a copy of the entry
Seek medical assistance, ask for a copy of the medical report and keep any receipts for medical charges. If you don’t get medical help it may affect a claim for compensation when you get home.
Contact your travel insurance company (if you have one) – some policies have very strict time limits for notifications.
Get the names & addresses of anyone who witnessed the accident
Take photographs of what caused your accident / injury
If you are travelling as part of a package deal (where at least two elements of the holiday were booked at the same time and through a UK company) then you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim against the package organiser. For them to be held responsible your accident abroad needs to have happened during an activity that was included as part of your package. So for a skiing accident or snowboading accident on the slope, for example, the lift pass or equipment hire (if faulty equipment) would need to have been included in the package when you first booked it. Additional activities booked whilst on the holiday are not included in this.
If you are not travelling as part of a package deal it is still possible to bring a case abroad against the company running the activity or an individual who caused the accident. As international law varies from country to country, and there can be strict time limitations, it’s important to seek legal advice as soon as possible.
We Can Help
If you have suffered a skiing injury then you may be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. Our friendly specialist advisors can talk to you about your situation and see if you have a valid compensation claim. There is no charge for this service and you are under no obligation to claim with us.
If You Have a Genuine Claim, Contact a Genuine Company
May I Claim, is a trading name of R Costings Limited and our CRM number is 25770
If you’ve had an accident that wasn’t your fault and suffered an injury - you can trust us to handle your claim professionally.
Call us now on 0800 756 7774 and talk to us to find out if you have a claim - or fill in our Quick Claim form (on the right of this page).
http://info.mayiclaim.co.uk/personal_injury_compensation_claim_news/bid/329546/A-Guide-to-Help-You-Deal-with-Skiing-Injuries-and-Accidents-Abroad
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