USA and Canada most expensive places for ski accidents The average cost of insurance claims by Britons after winter sports-related accidents in the US and Canada in winter 2010/11 was £2,863, new figures have shown. In contrast, the average cost of claims after ski accidents in Bulgaria in the same period was just £493. Austria had the second-highest claims figure, at an average of £1,393, followed by France (£960), Italy (£819) and Switzerland (£737), according to Sainsbury's Travel Insurance. The most common winter sports injury is to knees which accounted for 31% of all 2010/11 claims, with an average cost per knee injury claim being £755. Back injuries only account for 4% of all claims but the average cost of these claims is as high as £2,706. Head injury claims average £2,286, while injuries to the upper leg, hip and pelvis involve claims averaging £2,226.