Updates on PZS Membership Fees in 2015

The Alpine Association of Slovenia (PZS) today, December 9, at its headquarters in Ljubljana, signed a contract with

the insurance company Adriatic Slovenica, d.d., which brings significant updates to the PZS membership fee for the new insurance

period, namely added insurance for rescue costs abroad with 24-hour assistance and health insurance

with assistance abroad for all PZS membership categories. For A+ members, coverage applies worldwide, for all other

membership categories in Europe and Turkey. Planinski vestnik is no longer included in A+ and A membership fees, but the subscription

to it in combination with membership fee B is even more favorable than the previous A membership fee.

In response to the needs and wishes of members that have emerged over the past three years, in addition to accident insurance for

an expanded range of mountaineering activities and private liability insurance for members, the alpine association is introducing

into the membership fee from 2015 added insurance for rescue costs abroad with 24-hour assistance and

health insurance with assistance abroad for all PZS membership categories. The insurance also covers costs for

hospital treatment and repatriation of the injured. In addition to individuals, the PZS membership fee also includes

insurance for PZS professional staff (guides, instructors ...) in case of professional errors and enables additional

accident insurance for participants in trainings and path maintenance actions organized by PZS or alpine

societies, as well as participants in other events organized by PZS or alpine societies (trips, hikes, tours, camps,

meetings, recreational competitions, excursions, etc.) and additional accident insurance for participants in competitions

organized by PZS or alpine societies. Accident insurance for all members is covered worldwide. Within

the rescue costs insurance for abroad, A+ members have coverage worldwide, for other member categories

the coverage area is limited to Europe and Turkey. Rescue costs are not covered in Slovenia, where this part

of the costs is covered by mandatory health insurance.

The key novelty in 2015 is the introduction of assistance service within the insurance for rescue costs abroad

and additional health assistance abroad in case of rescue. Until now, all PZS members were also

insured for rescue costs abroad, but they had to cover these costs themselves and then claim them up to the insured

amount from the insurance company. According to our information, all who claimed this type of insurance with all

appropriate documentation received payments from the insurance company without complications, but they still had to advance at least a few thousand euros for a month or two,

which can be a major problem for some. In contrast to this method, with

24-hour assistance, the insurance company's call center is notified, which then takes over the arrangement of the rescue operation. Thus, the

insured person has fewer logistical problems, and above all, does not have to pay rescue costs, as they are covered by the

insurance company up to the insured amount. Insurance for rescue costs abroad with included 24-hour assistance and

additional health assistance abroad is linked to performing mountaineering activities, which are more precisely

defined in PZS instructions and which standard health assistance insurance abroad usually does not cover – thus also for

alpinism, sport climbing, ski touring, etc. In case of rescue, the member also has treatment costs covered up to

the agreed limits for the individual membership type. From 2015, alpine societies will also be able to additionally insure their activities (path maintenance actions, competitions ...).

Insurance is just one of the benefits provided by the alpine organization to its members. It also offers them

discounts on overnight stays in Slovenian and numerous foreign alpine huts, various discounts on purchases of alpine

publications and equipment, discount on entry to the Slovenian Alpine Museum ... Every member by paying the membership fee expresses

affiliation to the alpine organization and supports various activities that Slovenian mountaineers carry out for the benefit of all

mountain lovers. Among these, it is worth highlighting more than 7000 different activities of alpine societies annually, maintenance of the network of 9882 kilometers of alpine trails, ecological and energy renovation of alpine huts, projects in the field of preventive activities, and more.

"In the alpine organization, we have been observing for some time the trend of annual increase in visits to foreign mountains by

Slovenian mountaineers, and this trend is followed by members' expectations to appropriately expand the insurances

included in the alpine membership fee. Therefore, in the alpine association, we expressed the wish to expand the included insurances also with

assistance in case of rescue in foreign mountains. Given that the Slovenian insurance market has not known similar solutions for

such a large group of insured until now, we wanted to arrange assistance at least for our members with the most

benefits, i.e., A and A+ members. Upon reviewing the received offers, we were pleasantly surprised that the Slovenian

insurance company Adriatic Slovenica, d.d., offered the possibility of providing assistance both for rescue cases and for hospital care cases for all members of the alpine association, i.e., for about 55 thousand individuals. We believe that

providing assistance for rescue cases in foreign mountains and additionally health assistance abroad is a very

important upgrade to the alpine membership fee, which will be beneficial for all who venture into foreign high mountains, as well as for

all those who occasionally visit one of the border peaks or climb a hill just across the border.

Assistance together with all previous insurances covers the needs of the vast majority of mountain visitors regarding

insurances, and it must be emphasized that members of the alpine organization also enjoy other benefits,

in addition, every member contributes their share to the operation of the entire alpine organization and the maintenance of alpine

infrastructure," said Bojan Rotovnik, President of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, after signing the contract.

The Alpine Association of Slovenia routinely selects an insurance company for member insurance every three years. This year's

tender documentation was sent in June to eleven insurance companies operating in Slovenia. For the next

period, Adriatic Slovenica, d.d. has been selected, which offered the most comprehensive insurance

package in the tender, the only one also providing 24-hour assistance for possible rescue abroad for all membership types. "In

shaping our offer, we wanted to fully meet the expectations of the Alpine Association of Slovenia.

With our comprehensive offer, we succeeded. I am convinced that this is the beginning of fruitful cooperation that will provide all

members with even greater security in mountaineering activities. We are proud that today in Adriatic

Slovenica we have the largest number of very satisfied insured, and for the future, we wish that among them there will be as many as possible

members of the Alpine Association of Slovenia," emphasized Klaudijo Starc, Director of Business with Large Clients at

insurance company Adriatic Slovenica, d.d.

Planinski vestnik is no longer included in A+ and A membership fees. The difference between membership fee A and B is now regarding accident

insurance, rescue costs, and personal liability insurance only in the amount of the insured sum. For

individuals who were previously A members of PZS mainly due to the more favorable subscription to Planinski vestnik, with the

member discount on the subscription, it is ensured that in the future the combination of membership fee B and subscription to

Planinski vestnik with member discount will be price-wise even slightly lower than the previous membership fee A (25 EUR +

29.25 EUR = 54.25 EUR, while the amount of membership fee A is 55 EUR).

MEMBERSHIP TYPES

Membership types Fee amount

A+ member with the largest scope of benefits 65.00 €

A+/with family discount 60.00 €

A member with larger scope of benefits 55.00 €

A/with family discount 50.00 €

B adult person with basic scope of benefits 25.00 €

B/with family discount 20.00 €

B1 person over 65 years with basic scope of benefits 18.50 €

B abroad is a membership type only for members of border alpine societies* 11.00 €

S+Š high school student or person with student status, up to and including 26 years of age,

with basic scope of benefits

16.00 €

S+Š/with family discount 12.80 €

P+O preschool or elementary school child, with basic scope of benefits 7.00 €

P+O/with family discount 5.60 €

OPP person with special needs (person who is partially or fully deprived

of business capacity), with limited scope of benefits

7.00 €

OPP/with family discount 5.60 €

Basic insurance coverage applies to performing the following mountaineering activities:

 hiking up to 6,500 meters above sea level;

 trekking up to 6,500 meters above sea level;

 mountaineering up to 6,500 meters above sea level (includes easier climbing up to grade IV on the UIAA difficulty

scale);

 alpinism and sport climbing (including ice) up to 5,000

 ski touring cycling: ski touring cycling is a special type of mountain biking without competitive goals

and performed in nature;

 ski touring, when touring skis are used solely as an aid for walking or descending on snow during

mountaineering activity (aid to reach the goal);

 snowshoeing, when snowshoes are an aid for walking on snow during mountaineering activity;

 voluntary guiding;

 events and actions organized by PZS and alpine societies, coverage only for the duration of the event or

action;

 activities of school alpine clubs, also in enclosed spaces.

Insurance coverage does not apply to:

o alpinism and sport climbing without additional protection – solo climbing above grade IV on the UIAA scale

(individual climbing without protection),

o urban climbing (on urban structures, tree climbing, etc.),

o members of alpinist expeditions, but an offer for a specific alpinist expedition can be prepared

subsequently,

o competitions, unless specifically agreed and insured under special conditions,

o the insurer's liability is excluded for accidents occurring during competitive ski touring and

heli-skiing,

o ski touring cycling does not include types of mountain biking such as: descent, downhill, freeride and other

adrenaline activities with bicycles.

Details on PZS membership fees for 2015 can be found on the PZS website.