An estimated 1.9 million British tourists forgot to take out travel insurance

• 16% of travellers forgot to buy travel insurance ^[1]
• Forgetting to get covered may be costing travellers £8.6 million per month ^[2]
• Over a quarter of holidaymakers say they can’t afford travel insurance ^[1]

A new report from iCompare 4 U has estimated that almost 2 million British tourists forgot to take out travel insurance for their trip in the second half of 2021. This could be costing holidaymakers £8.6 million per month in would-be claims.^[2]

The comparison site calculated that approximately 12.37 million UK residents travelled overseas without insurance between July and December 2021. When asking holidaymakers why they take the risk of travelling without insurance, 16% (equivalent to around 1.9 million travellers), said it simply slipped their mind.^[1][2] This forgetfulness results in approximately 8,500 would-be claims per month.^[2]

The list of reasons why Brits travel without insurance can be found below:

Reasons for not taking out travel insurance ^[1]

1. It was too expensive – 26%
2. I didn’t think I’d need it – 25%
3. I was going on a short trip – 17%
4. I wouldn’t be covered for a pre-existing condition/illness – 16%
5. I forgot – 16%

While many travellers just forget to take out a policy, iCompare 4U survey found that the main reason for travelling without cover is due to costs.

A quarter (26%) of Brits opted against travel insurance because they felt it was too expensive. This translates to an estimated 3.2 million holidaymakers in the second half of 2021, resulting in around 14,000 would-be claims per month. ^[1][2] This totals a huge cost of £14.3 million being lost, simply because of holidaymakers not having a policy to claim on when they needed to.^[2]

Nuno Mendes, travel insurance expert at iCompare 4U, said: “Travel insurance costs can vary, but many policies start from as little as a couple of pounds. If factors like age or medical conditions are increasing the price, you need to really consider the risks. We strongly recommend paying the premium, especially if you’ve booked an expensive holiday, where you’ll want the reassurance that you can get your money back in an emergency scenario.”

Travel insurance is not a legal requirement, but it gives holidaymakers peace of mind. It is especially important when holidaying somewhere without free healthcare, where an injury or illness could end up costing tens of thousands of pounds in medical expenses.

Travel insurance may also cover travellers for emergency repatriation, travel delays and cancellations, lost luggage and theft.

The full report can be found here: https://icompare4u.co.uk/travel-insurance/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors – about the data

^[1] In order to collect the data used in this report, I Compare 4U conducted a survey of 2,000 UK residents via YouGov. The survey was run on 21 October 2022 and all responses were randomly selected. All statistics featured on this page are sourced via this survey unless otherwise stated.

^[2] Survey results were combined with ONS data on the number of visits abroad by UK residents to calculate the number of uninsured travellers for each reason they didn’t take out travel insurance. The approximate number of would-be claims from uninsured travellers was based on the FCA claim frequency percentage, and the total cost for each was based on the FCA cost of an average claim payout, multiplied by the number of travellers.