ABI launches consumer guide for Travel Insurance

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has released a consumer guide to help the estimated 15 million people who will go abroad this year to choose the right travel insurance policy.

Despite the fact that the average cost of a one week holiday for a family of 4 is £1488¹ and that Britons will on average spend more than double the cost of a single trip travel insurance policy on magazines and sweets at the airport², a large proportion will still travel without travel insurance.

The guide explains that travel insurance is there to cover a range of different areas:

• Cancellation of your trip
• Medical Expenses and repatriation
• Lost and stolen possessions

High quality products such as Voyager Travel Insurance include a wider range of cover such as:

• Financial failure of airlines or other parts of your holiday
• Journey disruption cover including alternative transport arrangements – if you become stranded abroad
• Personal Liability

Rochelle Turner, Head of Research at Which? Travel stated: ‘Buying Travel Insurance can be really complicated’, she went on to say ‘Which? Travel research shows that, in the last year, 10 per cent of people were disappointed to find out they couldn’t make a claim against the policy they had purchased. The work the ABI have been doing will help in the move to clarify what insurance does and doesn’t cover so people are better informed and can buy policies that are right for their travel needs.’

The ABI recommends that travellers think about the following things when purchasing travel insurance:

1. Cost – The cheapest travel insurance policy is not always the best as they often provide the least cover.
2. Disclosure of Medical Conditions – Travellers must disclose their medical conditions to insurers to confirm if their policy will cover emergency treatment that may be needed abroad.
3. Act Responsibly – Insurers do not cover any incidents that are related to drink or drugs. Equally insurers will not cover leaving possessions unattended.

Click here to download a copy of the ABI guide.

¹ source: Churchill insurance, based on £372 expenditure on travel and accommodation per person per week
² research commissioned by the FCO and carried out by Redshift research in June 2010, sample 1000 people

Author: Adam