1 in 5 UK holidaymakers fail to take out travel insurance

The travel association ABTA recently revealed that almost 1 in 5 British holidaymakers fail to take out any form of travel insurance before embarking on a trip abroad. The study also revealed some worrying misconceptions about travel cover, with 1 in 6 people, 16% of those questioned, wrongly believing that the government would pick up the cost of any medical assistance needed while abroad. This figure is even higher with travellers in the younger age bracket with 26% of those aged between 15-26 years believing that the Foreign Office would pay for emergency medical treatment needed while abroad, which is completely false. However the number of consumers who don’t take out cover while holidaying in the UK is even higher, standing at 55%. The reason many Brits abroad fail to take out travel cover is that 17% don’t consider it to be important. As well as covering medical expenses, some travel insurance also protects against cancellations in the case of redundancy which is especially important in the current economic climate insurance experts warn. The results of the survey were revealed at ABTA’s convention at Malta. The findings of the study also showed that 12% of UK travellers have made a claim on their travel insurance policy in the last 5 years, 3% of those said their claim was for more than £500.