WIREDGOV

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office encourages British people to buy appropriate travel insurance before they go abroad.

As Brits are looking ahead at travel plans for 2018, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is advising holidaymakers to make sure they are properly insured.

Travelling abroad uninsured can cost thousands of pounds if a trip goes wrong. The price can range from £4,000 for medical repatriation aftercare for a heart attack in France to £80,000 for an air ambulance due to a fractured hip in Thailand.

Yet according to new research from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, being sure to take out the appropriate travel insurance policy features at the bottom of travellers’ holiday priorities:

• getting to the airport (18%)
• going through airport security (20%) and
• waiting for luggage (11%)

are the biggest concerns for travellers going on holiday abroad. Only 2% worry about remembering to take out appropriate travel insurance.

72% of people aged over 55 plan to travel abroad in 2018 and with half of these identify themselves as having a pre-existing medical condition. The FCO is advising British holidaymakers to research the appropriate travel insurance options, understand the potential cost of not being adequately insured and to give a detailed and accurate medical history to insurers.

Research shows that:

• the price of travel insurance is the most important factor for the over 55s when considering whether or not to buy it (23%), and
• 1 in 20 have knowingly not declared their medical condition due to the increased cost of their travel insurance

The fact is that overseas emergency medical bills far outweigh the average cost of a policy.

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