Tag Archives: holiday insurance

Travel Insurers Paid Out £370 Million In 2016

Plane The peak overseas holiday season will soon be upon us with schools here in the UK shortly to break up for the summer. Many families will be taking to the sky in planes, boarding cruise liners and ferries as they venture across oceans and travelling by car or train through the Channel Tunnel onward bound to some European destination or an exotic country many thousands of miles from our shores.

With this in mind, it is perhaps rather timely to mention travel insurance that, based upon research carried out by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), rather surprisingly reveals there are a significant number of holidaymakers who are not arranging this potentially valuable form of cover. Apparently, around 1 in 4 people travelling overseas do not bother to take out travel insurance.

When you consider that 480,000 people travelling abroad last year claimed on their travel insurance policies in respect of things like lost luggage and medical treatment there is obviously a need for such cover. In fact, around £1 million was paid out to claimants every day.

Of those people, 154,000 required emergency medical assistance. The cost of such treatment amounted to £199 million. There were 83,000 claims made in respect of cash being lost and luggage going astray totaling £17 million. There were 159,000 claims made by holidaymakers who unfortunately had to cancel a holiday at a total cost of around £130 million.

When you consider that the average amount claimed for cancelling a holiday was £816 and that the average amount claimed in respect of medical treatment amounted to £1,300 yet the average amount of an annual travel insurance policy is £37 it rather puts this into perspective. It is also reassuring to note that insurers approve almost 9 out of every 10 travel insurance claims.

So, if you are looking for quality travel insurance at a competitive price, why not give us a call here at AIB Insurance on 02380 268 351 and discuss your requirements with a knowledgeable member of staff. It really is not worth the risk of travelling abroad without suitable cover.

ABTA Travel Trends Report 2017 – An Interesting Read

The ABTA Travel Trends Report 2017 provides some interesting information about the travel industry including a review of 2016, what the prospects are for the industry in 2017 and some destinations that are worth keeping an eye on. Below we highlight some of what the report covers but you can view the full report on the abta.com website.

What happened in 2016?

In 2016, there was a rise in the number of people in Britain going away on holiday with a 7% increase in the year to September of last year in comparison to the previous 12 months. Also, individuals were taking more holidays. Interestingly, British holidaymakers were not jetting off on as many holidays on the beach but the number of breaks to cities rose.

Places like Turkey and Tunisia saw the number of holidaymakers drop due to safety concerns. Countries that benefitted included Portugal, Spain and Cyprus that saw increases in numbers of 23%, 20% and 17% respectively.

Another interesting statistic was that 53% of people enjoyed a package holiday with this being in excess of 10% more than back in 2011.

In 2016, there was a significant increase in the number of domestic holidays in comparison to 2015. In 2015, 64% of holidays taken by British people were domestic ones but in 2016 this had increased to 71%.

Prospects for 2017

It was forecast that this year there would be a rise in the number of people choosing an all-inclusive holiday. In 2016, 18% of holidaymakers enjoyed such a holiday yet it has been predicted that in 2017 25% of people intended to enjoy such a holiday.

More people are expected to take long haul city breaks visiting such cities as Dubai, Cape Town, Los Angeles, Washington, Tokyo and New York to name but some.

There is expected to be an increase in the number of people enjoying adventure holidays such as horse riding expeditions and kayaking.

Possible Destinations

There are many wonderful holiday destinations around the world. One or more of the likes of Bermuda, Croatia, Andalucia, Vietnam, Sardinia, Chile, USA or South Africa may appeal for varying reasons. For instance, Andalucía for the warm climate and South Africa for the exchange rate.

Here at AIB Insurance, we have arranged holiday insurance for a huge number of people whether it is for a short break to the likes of Venice or an all inclusive holiday in the South of France. So, why not give us a call on 02380 268 351 to discuss your requirements and obtain a competitive quotation.

Overseas Holiday Money Saving Tips

In two to three months time you may well be breaking up from work to enjoy a couple of weeks holiday in a far off exotic destination with your family. If so, we thought that you might find the following tips on how you may be able to save yourself some money of benefit.

Finding a flight

If you are arranging your holiday independently, as a lot of people do these days, you will need to book the flight tickets. The sooner that you can do this the better because, as a general rule, as the seats on a plane start to fill up the cost of them rises.

As for finding a flight, why not try a website like Skyscanner as they provide access to numerous airlines, including budget ones, flying from many airports in the UK. It is like a price comparison site so you can see the different prices that each airline charges and you may be able to obtain a fantastic deal.

Hotels

You can register for free on the likes of SecretEscapes’s website that provides access to various hotels around the world often at hugely discounted rates.

Another option is to take advantage of “top secret hotel” offers on the likes of Lastminute.com where big reductions in room rates may be offered on luxury hotels although you will not be told the name of the hotel until you have made and paid for the booking.

Another option is to ring a hotel direct and try to negotiate a reduction in the room rate. You may be surprised at how often they will do this. Prior to doing so, make sure that your home phone provider has put you onto a package offering cheaper international calls for a small monthly fee to help make it financially viable.

Foreign currency

Avoid buying your foreign currency at foreign exchange outlets at the airport as the exchange rate is possibly going to be worse than if you bought it at an outlet in the town or city of where you live.

Baggage allowance

Check the weight of your luggage before leaving home as airlines charge a substantial additional fee if you exceed the weight allowance.

Car hire

Normally, it is cheaper to book your car hire well in advance rather than at the car hirer’s desk on the day of arrival at your destination airport.

Travel accessories

Avoid buying travel accessories such as adaptor plugs at airport departure shops as they are likely to cost more than if you had purchased them in a local high street retail outlet.

Mobile phones/iPads

Let your mobile phone provider know that you are going on holiday overseas as they may offer a suitable package. Use your mobile sparingly, if at all, whilst abroad in view of potentially high charges and make sure that it is switched off when not being used as well as turning off the data roaming facility.

Bring sandwiches

You can pack a few rounds of sandwiches to eat on board the plane to avoid paying the high charges that some airlines make for providing food.

We hope that you have found the above of benefit.

One final point – you will require quality travel insurance. So, why not get in touch with a member of the friendly, knowledgeable team here at our Eastleigh office for a quote by ringing 02380 268 351.

Results Of Post Office Travel Insurance Survey Are Concerning

Many of us look forward to a summer holiday in some far off exotic location where we can enjoy relaxing on a sandy beach, sunbathing under a pure blue sky sipping on a champagne cocktail. Prior to getting on the plane to start our holiday we will have made sure that we have brought our passports, flight and hotel details, sun cream, clothes and sunglasses.

That is fine but do we all sort out travel insurance before departing to ensure that if we are taken ill whilst on holiday, have an accident whilst water-skiing, suffer flight delays or something else untoward? Unfortunately not, according to a survey carried out by Post Office Travel Insurance.

The survey involved 1,224 adults in the UK agreeing to take part and makes for interesting reading. In the past 5 years, all those participating had been on long-haul holidays.

Interestingly, there was a high % of people that had encountered problems whilst travelling to certain places overseas but what is even more alarming is that the survey found that a lot of people going to those same destinations did not bother to take out travel insurance. These problems covered a range of things such as flight delays, having an accident or illness as well as having something stolen.

For instance, let’s look at India. The survey found that around 18% of people from the UK travelling on holiday to that country in the last 5 years had some form of problem during their stay. Rather surprisingly, 29% of those people did not bother to take out travel insurance to cover their visit.

Mauritius is a honeymooners paradise. Well, a huge 20% of adults from the UK had some issues during their holiday and the same percentage of people did not arrange travel insurance.

Of those taking a well-earned rest in Sri Lanka, the survey found that 23% encountered some problems and 21% did not have the forethought to sort out travel insurance.

It probably does not come as a surprise to read that around a third of those aged 18 to 34 did not arrange travel insurance for their most recent long-haul flight yet only 6% of those at least 55 years of age did likewise. The main reason for this was possibly because the younger traveller felt that they were less likely to have a serious illness.

There was some interesting data from those that did bother to take out travel insurance. The main reason (35%) why someone claimed was because they needed medical attention due to illness closely followed by 31% suffering an accident and requiring medical treatment.

A staggering 15% of people taking part in the survey had had to be brought back to the UK in an air ambulance. Did you know that for such patients needing to be airlifted from India this could cost between £80,000 to £100,000? The survey found that the average amount claimed on a travel insurance policy for long-haul holidays was £4,859.

So, it really is not worth taking the risk of not bothering to arrange suitable travel insurance when going on holiday abroad. In this respect, why not pick up the phone to us here at AIB Insurance on 02380 268 351 so that we can do our best to help you arrange affordable cover to provide you with peace of mind.