THE SHORT ANSWER
A ski trip involves several policies at once: the travel cover in your home insurance, your accident policies and the cover for things you bring. Konsumenternas writes that home insurance gives good protection if you have an accident or fall acutely ill, and that you need to check that all your fellow travellers have travel cover.
This guide shows what to read before the winter sports break, in Sweden and abroad: when the travel cover applies, how off-piste skiing is treated, what applies to your own and rented skis, and what the European Health Insurance Card does not cover. The basics on travel days and the people covered are in the guide to travel cover in home insurance. [4][1]
Keep these points in mind
- In Sweden, travel cover often applies only if you are away for at least one or two nights.
- Off-piste skiing may be excluded, especially in accident policies.
- The European Health Insurance Card does not cover rescue operations or transport home.
STEP BY STEP
How to check your cover
Check that the travel cover applies to the trip
According to Konsumenternas, travel cover in home insurance requires you to be away for at least one or two nights on trips within Sweden, and the requirement varies between insurers. In one insurer's terms from December 2025, the trip must go abroad or include at least two planned overnight stays. There, the travel cover applies for the first 45 days of the trip.
According to Konsumenternas, travel cover can pay for medical costs during the trip and for a changed journey home, and sometimes for lost holiday days if you are admitted to hospital or prescribed rest indoors. In Sweden, the terms above pay for care only within public healthcare and up to the high-cost ceiling. Medical treatment and a changed journey home must be approved by the insurer in advance there.
[1][8]Read how off-piste and risky skiing are treated
Konsumenternas writes that when you ski abroad you are normally covered by the travel cover in your home insurance, including off-piste, but that exceptions may apply, for example on high-altitude mountain expeditions. Off-piste skiing may, however, be excluded in some accident policies. When adults ski off-piste, under ski lifts or in avalanche-prone areas, Konsumenternas counts this as a risky activity. Policies for children, however, usually do not exclude such activities.
Read the exclusions in each policy. In the terms from December 2025, for example, the travel cover does not apply in areas at 5 000 metres or higher, on expeditions, or in sport where you received payment or sponsorship above one price base amount a year. Konsumenternas writes that what counts as a risky activity varies between insurers, and that several insurers exclude sports competitions and organised training.
[3][2][1][8]Report a ski accident to every accident policy
If you are injured and need medical care, Konsumenternas says you may be entitled to compensation from an accident policy, for example for fractures, scars and lasting problems. Report the injury to every accident policy that covers you. For children, that means both the child insurance and the school insurance. How payments from several policies work is explained in the guide to multiple accident policies.
Konsumenternas lists what to do on the spot: see a doctor and ask for a medical certificate, keep receipts for all costs and report the injury to the insurer as soon as possible. The travel cover can pay necessary and reasonable costs for medical care and medical transport home. The accident policy can pay out if the injury becomes permanent.
[1][3]Read the terms for your own and rented skis
According to Konsumenternas, you can normally be compensated by your home insurance if your ski equipment is stolen, whether the skis are your own, borrowed or rented. There is a duty of care, though: you must not leave the skis unattended for too long. In the terms from December 2025, the policy covers things you own, rent or borrow for private use, and away from home, things you are not directly watching normally need to be locked away.
Skis breaking is a separate question. Konsumenternas writes that damaged rented items can be paid for if your home insurance includes all-risk cover and the damage is caused by a sudden and unforeseen event. The liability cover in home insurance often excludes rented or borrowed property. Rental companies may offer their own insurance, but it rarely covers every kind of damage. Read the deductible and the maximum payment in the rental agreement.
[2][8][5]
The EHIC, rescue and transport home from abroad
The European Health Insurance Card gives you the right to necessary care, meaning care that cannot wait until you are back, from providers connected to the public healthcare system. You then pay a patient fee. According to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the card is free and valid for three years in the EU/EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Children need their own card, delivery takes up to ten days and there is no digital card.
The card does not pay for journeys home by air ambulance, for example, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency says. The EU website Your Europe says the card gives no right to rescue operations or transport home. It describes a Swedish skier who injured his knee in France, was rescued by the French rescue service and had to pay the whole expensive bill. So read what your travel cover says about rescue and transport home.
[6][7]Liability insurance and collisions on the slopes
According to Konsumenternas, liability insurance is included in all home insurance policies. Konsumenternas also says that in Italy, since 1 January 2022, the law requires skiers to have liability insurance to use the slopes. Konsumenternas writes that you can ask your insurer for a certificate, so you avoid both fines and buying cover on the spot. Where to find such a certificate is covered in the guide to travel insurance certificates.
If you collide with someone on the slopes, the legal expenses and liability cover in home insurance can apply in civil cases, which Konsumenternas says are the most common. Konsumenternas also describes a collision that became a criminal case, and then the insurance did not apply. When you buy a lift pass, you may be offered an add-on policy. Konsumenternas urges you to check what it covers.
[4]Put the policies side by side before the trip
Keep your home insurance, accident policies and any card terms in My Forsio. You then have the documents in one place, and each detail shows the passage it came from, such as the travel cover's overnight requirement and the exclusions for risky activities. If the accident policy's terms are missing from the documents, cover for off-piste skiing is Not verified, not confirmed as missing.
Forsio does not decide whether a ski accident or a theft is paid, whether an activity counts as risky or what cover you need. The insurer decides that. Forsio is not an insurance intermediary and does not provide insurance advice.
Fictional example
Winter break in the mountains with rented skis.
The Nilsson family will stay three nights in a cabin in Sweden and rent skis there. They read their policies before leaving.
- Travel cover in Sweden
- Applies with at least two overnight stays
- Accident cover when off-piste
- Not verifiedThe accident policy's terms are not in the documents.
- Rented skis that break
- No all-risk cover in the home insurancePotential gapRead the rental company's terms and the rental agreement.
The travel cover applies for the length of the trip. Off-piste skiing and the ski rental need reading in more documents, and the insurers decide any claim.
Common questions
Does home insurance travel cover apply on a ski trip in Sweden?
It can. According to Konsumenternas, trips within Sweden require you to be away for at least one or two nights, and the requirement varies between insurers. In one insurer's terms, the travel cover applies in Sweden when you intend to stay at least two nights away. Read your own terms for the number of nights. [1][8]
Does travel insurance cover stolen rented skis?
According to Konsumenternas, you can normally be compensated by your home insurance if your ski equipment is stolen, even if the skis are borrowed or rented. You must not leave them unattended for too long. Payment requires both the item and the event to be covered by the terms. If rented skis break, all-risk cover in your home insurance can pay for the damage if it was caused by a sudden and unforeseen event. [2][5]
Am I covered if I ski off-piste?
It depends on the policy. According to Konsumenternas, you are normally covered by home insurance travel cover when skiing abroad, including off-piste, but exceptions may apply. Off-piste skiing may be excluded in some accident policies. For adults, off-piste, skiing under lifts and avalanche-prone areas count as risky activities. Policies for children, however, usually do not exclude such activities. [3][2][1]
Do I need extended travel insurance for extreme sports?
Forsio does not decide that. Konsumenternas writes that you may need a separate policy for risky activities, but that such policies do not cover every risky activity or extreme sport. What counts as risky varies between insurers. Check with the insurer before you travel whether your policies cover what you plan to do. [3]
Is the European Health Insurance Card enough if I am injured in the Alps?
The card gives necessary care from public providers in the EU/EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with the same right to care as residents. It does not cover everything. According to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, it does not pay for journeys home by air ambulance, and according to the EU website it gives no right to rescue operations. The EU website says you need travel insurance to be brought home after an accident in another EU country. [6][7]
What applies if someone falls ill before the winter break trip?
Before departure, cancellation cover may apply. According to Konsumenternas, it is usually included in more comprehensive home insurance and applies if you fall acutely ill or have an accident that forces you to cancel. It can pay for booked accommodation, lift passes and ski rental, for example. If you pay by card, at least 50 percent of the price usually has to be paid with the card, and if you travel by your own car, the card cover may in some cases be missing. Read more in the guide to trip cancellation cover. [1]
MY FORSIO
See what your policies say before the trip.
Keep your home insurance, accident policies and card terms in My Forsio. Read travel cover, exclusions and details that need confirmation, with the passage each detail came from. Free for individuals.
Sources and references
Sources checked
This guide explains general principles of Swedish insurance. Your policy schedule and terms set out what applies to you.
- Konsumenternas: how insurance applies when you travel to the mountains
- Konsumenternas: the right insurance for a mountain trip (February 2022)
- Konsumenternas: does my insurance apply to risky activities?
- Konsumenternas: injured on the slopes, how insurance applies on a ski trip (January 2023)
- Konsumenternas: renting or lending out tools or sports equipment
- Swedish Social Insurance Agency: the European Health Insurance Card and care abroad
- Your Europe: healthcare during a temporary stay and the European Health Insurance Card
- An insurer's home insurance terms, December 2025