2008 News Archive - Holidays - Brits forgoing travel insurance, survey finds

14 08 2008

Many travellers are neglecting to purchase insurance to cover their holidays abroad, claims new research.

Results of a survey conducted by Sainsbury's Travel Insurance concluded that around 13.4 million Brits will travel without the appropriate cover over the summer.

In particular, those aged 55 to 64 are the most likely to opt not to take out insurance to cover their holidays despite the risk.

Steve Johnson, head of insurance at Sainsbury's Finance warned: "If something happens to you or your family whilst you're abroad, you need to know that you have adequate cover in place to take care of things."

One of the reasons given by holidaymakers for not purchasing insurance was financial, claiming that the rising cost of living put pressure on their spending, while 31 per cent felt that they would never be in a situation to require travel insurance.

However, a recent report from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) showed that holidaymakers do often have a need for travel insurance.

For example, FCO figures revealed that 8,304 Britons needed official help in the US, 6,710 passports were lost in Spain and a total of 602 Brits were hospitalised in Greece.