Are You Paying Too Much For Your Travel Insurance?
If you buy travel insurance from a package holiday operator you could be paying too much, according to new research.
Gocompare.com has found that holidaymakers who buy their travel insurance from a package holiday operator could be paying three times as much for their cover as someone who shops around using a comparison site.
Taking a typical family of four looking for cover for a 2 week summer in holiday in Europe it’s staggering the difference in prices.
Firstly the purposes of the research, the family is assumed to comprise of parents aged 44 and 39 and two children aged 9 and 7 when travelling. The cover required being for two weeks single trip to Europe between the 31st of June and the 14th of July 2012. Standard cover is required with no provision for adventurous activities or any pre-existing medical conditions. All quotes were returned on the 24th of April 2012.
The insurance quote from Thomas Cook was £50.42 and for the same thing, via Gocompare.com and from Insureandgo was just £15.40 – and this cheaper policy has lowere excess amounts and greater levels of medical and baggage cover.
Other quotes obtained were:
£100 excess
£100 excess
£100 excess
£150 excess
£150 excess
£150 excess
Standard
£75 excess
£75 excess
£50 excess
£50 excess
£50 excess
£50 excess
Many people choose to use the travel cover provided as part of their bank account’s range of additional benefits. The levels of cover provided by these policies vary from bank to bank and account to account so if you choose this route you need to check that the cover provides the protection you need for your trip.
Of concern is that nearly 10% of travellers don’t even take out travel insurance, leaving themselves at risk of picking up expensive medical or repatriation bills if they are seriously ill or injured whilst abroad.
But when should you buy travel insurance?
Many leave it until the last minute, buying it just before they go away. As Jeremy Cryer, head of travel insurance at Gocompare.com, comments though: “If you leave it late to buy your travel insurance you could miss out on some really useful features such as cancellation cover.
“Also, if events unfold after you book your holiday but before you buy your travel insurance, and they subsequently cause you to rethink your holiday plans, you may not be able to claim on your policy because you were aware of the situation before taking out the insurance.
“It’s a false economy to leave it to the last minute so arrange your travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked your holiday.”
MoneyHighStreet comments: “Despite the fact that a number of people are struggling with their finances this year, most feel that holidays cannot be missed.
“Planning ahead is a great way to ensure you save money where possible. Do seriously consider buying insurance, it could be a false economy not to.
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