It pays to buy travel insurance early

Saga Insurance, specialists in arranging cover for those over 50, say that those that buy travel insurance in advance are the most likely to be compensated if things go wrong.

 

It doesn’t pay to leave insurance to the eleventh hour, according to a study by Saga Travel Insurance.

 

Almost one in five people have had a holiday cancelled, often through no fault of their own, prior to departure.

 

People who ensure they have travel insurance for when they book and pay for their holiday are more likely to successfully claim back all their money, compared to those who arrange travel cover less than a week before their trip.

 

Saga’s research shows that people who leave buying their travel insurance to the last minute are likely to be left short changed if holiday plans go awry. 68% of people who purchase travel insurance well before they go away could claim some of the cost of their holiday back should it be cancelled, compared to only 52% who buy it in the last week before departure.

 

Almost nine in ten holidaymakers buy travel insurance, recognising the need to protect against the unexpected whilst away. However, 10% of respondents reported losing out when their holiday plans went wrong before they even packed the sun cream, as they simply had not yet bought insurance. This is particularly frustrating as the most common cause of pre-holiday cancellation is beyond the holidaymaker’s control:

 

Top causes for holiday cancellation include:

 

1.  The person I was going with became ill/had an accident and couldn’t travel

2.  I became ill/had an accident and couldn’t travel

3.  There was a family bereavement

 

UK holidaymakers are also in danger of not receiving the medical attention on holiday that they are entitled to, according to Saga’s study. 29% of people are unaware that the E111 form, which allowed EU residents to obtain healthcare in any EU country, is now no longer valid, having now been replaced with the EHIC card.

 

Andrew Goodsell, Chief Executive of Saga Group says “This research clearly demonstrates the need to secure insurance well before you plan to travel as the cover is in force from the date it’s purchased, not just whilst you are actually away.”