TRAVEL insurers should base premiums on where clients are travelling to in order to provide suitable cover for possible natural disasters or political troubles, Lloyds underwriter Bill Rendall told the conference.
“Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, and political problems may have disastrous consequences for travellers but may well not be covered by insurance,” he said.
This could be overcome by tailoring policies to destinations. He pointed out that most travel insurance is divided between Europe and worldwide cover.
“That means a traveller going to the US buys the same policy for Florida, where hurricanes frequently happen, California, where he might be affected by an earthquake or the Dakotas, where natural disasters are relatively unknown,” he said.
Broadening cover and taking account of the likelihood of natural disasters in the rating would be less simple and cost more, he admitted, but he added: “Travellers would be better looked after.”