Group expedition cover

Polar diving and ski touring group insurance

Polar dive teams and ski touring groups can be assessed on cover written for expedition travel, where a retail policy excludes the activity outright. You hold the thread, one account manager handles the whole group, and every member is assessed on their own details.

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Reviewed by Al Ste-Marie, Founder. Last updated August 2026.

Tell us about your group

Give us the outline of the expedition: where the group is going, when, and what it plans to do there. One person then handles your whole group, and you deal with them rather than a queue.

Group name

Group type

Organiser name

Organiser email

Phone (optional)

Group size

Destination

Operator or vessel (optional)

Approximate start date

Approximate duration (days)

Approximate cost per person

Anything else we should know

Planned activities, diving or camping, equipment travelling with the group, anything medical we should know about.

We use these details to assess the group enquiry and to write back to the organiser about insurance options. Eligibility is assessed per traveller and per trip.

Why a standard travel policy does not respond

Polar diving, ski mountaineering and glacier travel sit inside the hazardous activity exclusions of a retail travel policy. That exclusion can void a claim even when the rest of the trip looks ordinary, so the activity has to be declared and assessed before anyone travels.

A policy bought for the flights and the deposit is not a policy that answers for a diver in cold water or a team roped up on a glacier. Eligibility is assessed on the activities you actually plan to run.

How dive and ski groups are assessed

We assess polar dive teams and ski touring groups against cover written for expedition activity. These trips are often coverable where a retail policy excludes them outright.

The assessment reads the itinerary, the declared activities, the operator or vessel and each traveller's details. It establishes eligibility. It does not confirm cover until the carrier has reviewed the group under its own terms.

Polar destinations. Antarctica, South Georgia and high Arctic itineraries are assessed on the route and the season.
Declared activities. Diving, ski touring, ski mountaineering and glacier travel are considered when you declare them up front.

Depth, certification and dive conditions

Polar diving carries conditions a leisure dive policy does not. Planned depth, certification level, drysuit and cold water experience, supervision ratio, and whether the team dives from a vessel or from shore all feed the assessment.

Describe the dive plan as it will be run, not as a best case. A depth or a certification stated loosely is the detail that decides a claim after an incident.

Hyperbaric and decompression treatment

A decompression incident in polar water is a logistics problem before it is a medical one. The nearest recompression chamber is rarely close, and reaching it can mean a vessel transit, a flight, or both, in weather that sets the timetable.

The enquiry covers the expedition's medical arrangements, oxygen and first response capability, and the route to definitive care. Treatment and evacuation benefits stay subject to the carrier's terms.

Ski touring altitude, crevasse and avalanche terrain

Retail policies cap ski activity at a stated altitude and exclude travel off marked runs, on glaciers, or in avalanche terrain. A polar or high Arctic ski touring itinerary breaches all three on a normal day.

Tell us the highest planned altitude, the guide ratio, whether the team travels roped on glaciated terrain, and the avalanche protocol you follow. Those answers shape the assessment.

Altitude. The highest point on the route and the nature of the ascent.
Terrain. Glacier travel, crevasse exposure, avalanche terrain and any technical sections.
Team competence. Guide arrangements, rescue equipment carried and the experience level across the group.

Evacuation from a vessel or a glacier

In polar regions an evacuation starts from an expedition vessel, a landing site or a glacier, not from a road. Distance, weather windows and the availability of an aircraft or a second vessel set the pace, and the first move is usually a transfer rather than a flight.

Tell us how the expedition is run, what communications the team carries and what the emergency plan looks like. Remote evacuation is assessed with the itinerary rather than assumed.

Retail policy against what an expedition group needs

A retail travel policy is written for conventional leisure travel. These are the six points where a polar dive or ski touring group diverges from it.

Comparison of retail travel policy limitations and expedition group assessment needs
Expedition element	Standard retail policy	What an expedition group needs
Hazardous activities	Diving, ski mountaineering and glacier travel commonly sit inside a general exclusion.	Declared activities assessed against cover written for expedition travel.
Dive profile	Depth caps and certification conditions written for warm water leisure diving.	Planned depth, certification, supervision and cold water conditions assessed as described.
Decompression care	Silent on how a diver reaches a recompression chamber from a remote position.	Medical, oxygen and evacuation arrangements reviewed alongside the dive plan.
Ski terrain	Altitude limits, plus exclusions for off piste, glaciated and avalanche terrain.	Altitude, terrain, guide ratio and avalanche protocol declared and assessed.
Remote evacuation	Assumes local medical infrastructure and a road or an airport nearby.	Vessel, glacier and field evacuation logistics considered with the itinerary.
Group administration	Every traveller buys separately and manages their own paperwork.	One organiser, one contact, and an account manager who collects each member's details.

Comparison of typical retail policy wording against what an expedition group is asked to declare. Terms vary by policy and by carrier.

How your group is handled

You send the trip once and answer the questions once. Nobody on the team is running a separate conversation to get the same answer.

One account manager handles your whole group from enquiry through to documents. They collect each member's own details, certifications and traveller information direct, so you are not gathering it by email.

What to have ready

A complete first message shortens the assessment. If the plan is still moving, send the current version and say what is unsettled, and we will name what the carrier still needs.

Trip outline.

Destination, dates, operator or vessel, and the shape of the itinerary.

Activity plan.

Dive depths and certifications, ski altitude and terrain, guides and safety procedures.

Team details.

How many travellers, their countries of residence, and who is organising.

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Frequently asked questions

Can polar diving be covered at all?

It can be assessed on cover written for expedition travel, once the diving is declared with its depth, certification and supervision arrangements. Eligibility is assessed individually and cover is subject to the carrier's terms.

Does dive certification affect eligibility?

Yes. Certification level, cold water and drysuit experience, planned depth and supervision all form part of the assessment. State them as the team will actually dive, not as a best case.

How is hyperbaric treatment handled in a remote position?

The enquiry covers the expedition's oxygen and first response capability and the route from the dive site to a recompression chamber. Treatment and evacuation benefits are subject to the carrier's terms.

Our ski touring goes above the altitude limit on retail policies. Is that a problem?

That is the reason to declare it. Tell us the highest planned altitude, the terrain, the guide ratio and the avalanche protocol, and the group is assessed on that rather than on a generic ski definition.

Does crevasse and avalanche terrain have to be declared?

Yes. Glacier travel, crevasse exposure and avalanche terrain are excluded on a retail policy, so they are assessed explicitly here, along with the equipment and rescue arrangements the team carries.

What happens if someone has to be evacuated from the vessel or a glacier?

Remote evacuation is assessed with the itinerary, including the vessel or field operation, communications and the emergency plan. Weather and distance shape the route to definitive care, so it is worked out before departure rather than improvised.

How does the group side work?

You deal with one account manager. They collect each member's own details direct, rather than you gathering them.

What should I send with the first enquiry?

Destination and dates, the operator or vessel, the dive and ski plan with depths, altitudes and terrain, the number of travellers and their countries of residence. Send what you have if the plan is still moving.

Related coverage

Scuba diving travel insurance

Liveaboard diving insurance

Winter sports travel insurance

Group expedition insurance

More on remote and specialist travel in our expedition insurance guides and across our destination pages.

Send us the expedition

Tell us where the team is going, what it plans to dive and ski, and who is running the operation. One account manager assesses the group and answers you directly.

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Eligibility is assessed individually and any cover is subject to the policy terms, conditions, limits and exclusions. This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.