More than a quarter (26%) of Brits neglect to buy travel insurance because of the cost of policies, according to research by Go.Compare.
The comparison site’s survey of 2,000 consumers also found that 25% of respondents said they didn’t need travel insurance and 16% said they simply forgot.
A similar proportion said they were only going on a short trip (17%) while 16% said: “I wouldn’t be covered for a pre-existing condition/illness.”
Go.Compare estimated that the 16% who forgot to buy travel insurance would mean that almost two million British tourists forgot to take out travel insurance – and this could be costing holidaymakers £8.6 million per month in would-be claims.
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The 26% of respondents who skipped travel insurance because they felt it was too expensive translates to an estimated 3.2 million holidaymakers – resulting in about 14,000 would-be claims per month and a loss of £14.3 million.
Ceri McMillan, travel insurance expert at Go.Compare, said: “Travel insurance costs can vary, but many policies start from as little as a couple of pounds.
“We strongly recommend paying the premium, especially if you’ve booked an expensive holiday, where you’ll want the reassurance that you can get your money back in an emergency scenario.
“When we compare policy prices to the potential costs of medical treatment abroad or the losses associated with a cancelled holiday, it is clear how worthwhile travel insurance is.”
She pointed out that medical treatment for a broken leg in Spain could end up costing a holidaymaker about £15,000.
The Go.Compare survey of 2,000 UK residents ran in October 2022 and used Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to identify the number of UK residents who went abroad between July and December 2021.
The ONS figures show that 17 million UK residents travelled overseas between July and December 2021. However, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) research found that only 4.6 million insurance policies were in force at the time, 2.4 million of which were single-trip.
This means that almost 12.4 million holidaymakers took the risk of having no travel insurance for their holiday during this time.
Travel insurance image by Faizal Ramli/Shutterstock
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