MY
Re CTC's £30k liability, the exact scope is given in the contract you'll receive. When I asked CTC the question of how many people fail to make it through training I was told it's of the order of 1 per year.
I had a brief look at BALPA's website about their insurances, but couldn't dredge up very much. Kinda wishing I'd looked harder if what you say is true. On the flip side, PJIS seem to work hand in hand with CTC like HSBC do, so in that sense it's one more hassle removed as they all know the system and communicate with each other regularly. For the winter sports bit, I was told a one off £50 premium covers it.