Insurance vital as research highlights holiday theft dangers

New research has highlighted the importance of travel insurance for Brits heading off on summer holidays.

The figures from Tesco Travel Money showed that nearly one in ten (nine per cent) of British holidaymakers had had their wallet or purse stolen while abroad.

Worryingly, this figure jumped to 23.8 per cent among younger travellers.

Also of concern is the fact that seven per cent said that their possessions were taken from hotel safes or deposit boxes.

The survey also revealed that it does not seem that the credit crunch has reduced the amount of money people will take with them on holiday this year.

Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) said that they were not setting any daily limits for their spending while away this year.

This contradicted recent research from Abbey Credit Cards which suggested that families were slashing their holiday budgets as worries about future debt increased.

Callum Gibson, head of Abbey Credit Cards said at the time that the data clearly showed that "British parents are feeling the pinch".