Families given failed rescue bill

The two men who died were snowboarding off-piste

The families of two snowboarders killed in an avalanche in the French Alps have received a £10,000 insurance bill for the failed rescue attempts.

Sam Harber, 25, from Suffolk and James Rourke, 26, of Sussex died snowboarding off-piste in April last year.

Mr Rourke's body was found a day after the accident and Mr Harber's two months later.

The families have been asked to cover rescue costs as insurance firm CNA has refused to pay and will not comment.

Once the police report was received, we confirmed to our appointed loss adjusters that sadly the claim was not covered CNA Insurance

Mr Harber's father Barry, from Lawshall, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, said that although off-piste skiing was included in his son's insurance, CNA refused to pay for the rescue attempts because it was claimed the two men ignored danger signs.

"We now have to fight to not pay this money and we are so angry it has come to this," Mr Harber said.

Mr Harber said both men were experienced snowboarders and were well-equipped.

Mr Rourke's father Peter, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, said: "Every letter we write to the insurers brings what happened back. We are very frustrated and distressed about this.

"The insurers have said they knew there was a 'foreseeable danger' and that is the clause they are using to get out of paying."

Mountainous area

The families have pledged to continue fighting the dispute, despite failing in two attempts to take their case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

In a letter to both families CNA Insurance described the mountainous area which claimed the men's lives as "highly dangerous".

"Any individual who ventures (on to) it must do so at their own peril," the letter said.

"We agreed to cover the cost of the repatriation as a gesture of goodwill. Once the police report was received, we confirmed to our appointed loss adjusters that sadly the claim was not covered."

CNA Insurance said on Wednesday they had no one available to comment further on the case.