PERILS OF HOLIDAYS

More than half of Brits travelled abroad last year either without travel insurance or without adequate cover.

As the holiday season takes hold, families could be putting themselves at risk, and they could be thousands of pounds out of pocket if they don’t have the right cover.

Research from Hood Group Insurance shows that 40% of people admitted going abroad without travel insurance in 2017, and a further 16% didn’t disclose medical information when taking out a policy, risking invalidating their cover.

People aged 24-34 were the most likely to travel without cover – a big gamble as 17% of those surveyed required medical treatment while away last year.

The main reason given for not buying cover was because people felt it was too expensive. But a typical policy costs just £8.73 per person for a single trip to Spain.

One in 10 thought the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) provided enough cover.

It’s important to have an EHIC to give you access to state medical care, but it’s only at the same level as locals in EU countries and most don’t have a free NHS like ours. Plus, it doesn’t include repatriation to the UK.

It’s vital you get the right cover – and that includes for activities you plan to do – or you could be left with medical bills running into thousands.

Latest figures from the Foreign and Commonwealth office show it can cost £80,000 for an air ambulance home from Thailand.

Simon Hood, of Hood Group, says: “Every year we see hundreds of cases of people getting into difficulties abroad because they either don’t have travel insurance or the policy they’ve bought is not giving them the level of cover they need.”