Travel insurance market set for recovery says Avid Insurance

The sector has been rocked by Covid and the subsequent reduction in insurance capacity, leading to new opportunities for growth among travel specialists. Avid, which distributes A-rated products for leisure travellers through brokers, is targeting strong growth by the end of next year, aiming to build on its pre-Covid share of the travel insurance market.

Baldwin said: “We have really strong relationships with our specialist travel insurance distribution partners and we’ve really tried hard during the period when travel was in the doldrums to support them as best we could.”

Family holidays and short trips showing signs of recovery

He said that family holidays in Europe and short duration trips are the first to show signs of recovery this year and expects that long haul will return to pre-pandemic levels as people’s confidence to book those types of holidays increases.

He added that the pandemic had brought some valuable travel insurance lessons to the fore. “We have done a lot of work to try to develop and transition our product offerings to deliver coverage we believe is appropriate for the post pandemic market.

“Prices are hardening because Covid and the resulting high demand for beds has created operational problems in some hospitals. This in turn has increased the costs of overseas medical care. Our medical assistance partners are also finding it more difficult to arrange for medical escorts or air ambulances to fly people home due to ongoing testing requirements and entry restrictions, which vary widely across different countries.”