Travel Insurance: Million unprepared for Easter holiday mishaps
One in ten Easter holidaymakers without travel insurance
Wednesday, 19 Mar 2008 11:51
A tenth of British Easter holidaymakers are not protecting themselves with travel insurance.
A poll by Sainsbury's reveals Londoners are most likely to put themselves at risk with 24.3 per cent having no insurance.
Those aged 25 to 34 are also most likely to ditch cover – with 18.1 per cent having no travel insurance cover.
While many think over a short break, the risks of an accident are low, and are prepared to put up with a stolen camera or lost baggage, the big problem comes if you suffer an injury.
While an European Health Insurance card (EHIC) – the replacement for the old E111 form – will cover basic medical costs, being flown home in the event of an accident can cost thousands of pounds.
Neil Laird, travel insurance manager at Sainsbury's Finance, said: "Easter can be a great time to get away, but these are alarming figures because taking travel insurance on holiday is as important as packing your passport.
"It doesn't matter if it's an Easter break, a weekend away or your main summer holiday, if something happens whilst you're abroad, you need to know that you have adequate cover in place to take care of things, whether it's to reimburse you for lost or stolen belongings, to pay for any medical treatment you may need or even to cover the cost of flying home early as a result of an emergency."
A report from InsureandGo meanwhile reveals the most common travel insurance claims.
In total travel insurance companies received 1.74 million claims worth £403 million in 2007 – with over half a million claims for medical problems worth £242.3 million.
The average medical travel insurance claim was for £476.57.
The next most common claims were for lost baggage (£81.70 per claim), cancellation of flights (£394.30 per claim), travel delay (costing £38.29 for an average claim) and lost or stolen money (£80.52 per claim).