Holidaymakers seek thrills but over four in 10 risk forgetting travel insurance

With February half term approaching, many in the UK will be thinking of planning and booking their holidays for the year ahead.

The top 10 risky activities people do while on holiday, according to a survey by UK bank Nationwide’s poll of 2,000 participants, are:

• Water sports: done by 36% of people
• Cycling: 33%
• Hiking: 29%
• Skiing/snowboarding: 26%
• Scuba diving/snorkelling: 25%
• Climbing: 21%
• Quad biking: 20%
• Skydiving: 18%
• Bungee jumping: 15%
• Paragliding: 13%.

Nationwide’s poll showed that people are three times more likely to purchase travel insurance for an overseas trip (70%) than they are for a UK ‘staycation’ (21%), despite the potential for things like lost or stolen luggage, travel delays or cancellations to occur when holidaying either at home or abroad.

Medical expenses (33%), flight delays or cancellations (21%) and lost and/or stolen luggage (11%) are some of the key things that people want covered, according to the survey. Aviva, which provides Nationwide’s FlexPlus travel insurance, sees a similar correlation when it comes to claims, with medical emergencies ranking highest, followed by trip cancellations and delays to either baggage or travel.

According to the findings, those aged 35–44 are the most likely to go away without cover, with more than half (54%) admitting to doing so. This compares to 48% of 25–34-year-olds, 39% of those aged 45–54 and 36% of those aged 55 and over. Interestingly, those aged 18–24 are the least likely to have gone away without cover, which may be due to 43% of them saying they take part in riskier activities versus just 28% of people aged 35–44.

While only 10% of respondents said that they’d had a travel insurance claim declined, more than a third (34%) of those cases were because they had failed to declare a pre-existing medical condition, highlighting the importance of declaring these to the insurer before travelling. Two in five (40%) of the declines were because the right upgrade (e.g. winter sports cover) wasn’t purchased. The average cost of a declined claim, according to the poll, was around £1,200.

Marta Edwards, Head of Current Accounts at Nationwide, said: “As we enter a busy period for booking holidays, people should ensure they have the right insurance in place once their holiday is booked. As our research shows, many people risk travelling without any cover and, while they will hopefully not need it, it can be an expensive gamble.”

Last year, rising travel costs led to a big shift in travel insurance payouts.