One in five travel without insurance

As many as one in five travellers do not take out travel insurance before travelling abroad, research reveals.

A survey carried out for ABTA, the travel agency trade association, suggests that many people are running the risk of facing huge medical bills should they fall ill because they have not taken out cover before travelling.

According to ABTA, this is because many – an estimated 21% – mistakenly believe that the British Government will cover their bills in the event that something goes wrong.  One in four, 25% of 15-24 year olds think that this is the case.

They survey also shows that 17% of people believe that travel insurance is unnecessary when travelling in Europe if they have a European Health Insurance Card which provides access to basic state medical care.  More than a quarter (26%) mistakenly believe that an EHIC card will cover their repatiration costs if they fall ill or have an accident and have to be flown back to the UK.

John de Vial, ABTA head of financial protection, said it is "very worrying" that so many people are putting their health and finances at risk by travelling abroad without insurance.

Lynda St Cooke of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said her organisation remains "very concerned" at the number of people travelling without comprehensive travel insurance.

While British embassies and consulates can provide some help to UK citizens overseas, such as contacting friends and family for them, consular staff cannot pay hospital bills for them, nor fly them home if they run out of holiday money.

ABTS de Vial added that in the current economic climate customers should be careful to purchase insurance at the time of booking their holiday to obtain cancellation cover for redundancy as well as any potential illness prior to travelling.

Source – Health Insurance Magazine

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