One in three Brits travel uninsured
A new poll of UK travellers undertaken by Compare Cover has uncovered that a worrying one-third of Brits don’t always buy travel insurance before heading off on trips. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents said that they either never bought coverage or only bought it sometimes, while 14.2 per cent simply said they never bought it, full stop. Interestingly, residents of the North West of the UK were the least likely to buy coverage, with 22 per cent saying they never travelled insured, while those in Wales were the most likely to invest in insurance, with 71 per cent always ensuring they were properly covered before holidaying.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, men were more likely to travel without insurance, with 17 per cent foregoing coverage, compared to 10 per cent of women. And the survey also found that Northern Irish respondents were the most likely to leave purchasing insurance until the day of setting off on holiday, while those in Yorkshire and Humber were the most likely to purchase a policy a few months or more before their travels began.
“To think that one in three of us might be neglecting the need to safeguard ourselves against the many risks foreign travel could pose – in an age where both short and long-haul trips have become increasingly common both on a personal and professional level – is quite staggering,” said Mike Preston, Business Development Director at Compare Cover. “At a time of year where lots of us, as a way of brightening the dark days of winter, are thinking about our next getaway, it’s so important to consider the potential costs that can arise in the event that something does go wrong while we are enjoying our latest adventure, and whether or not we could afford to pay these costs without travel insurance in place.”