The Government have issued warnings to consumers who have neglected to take out Travel Insurance on their short holiday breaks.

They are raising awareness by citing reasons why Travel Insurance is important, from flights being cancelled to money being stolen.

A survey carried out by YouGov found that a quarter of all British tourists go abroad without travel insurance which would either cover them or their belongings.

The study also found that consumers believed that the majority of insurance claims are due to lost baggage, however, medical emergencies are a far greater risk.

FirstAssist showed that an air ambulance from the east coast of the US back to the UK would cost £30,000, and up to £16,000 back from the Canary Islands.

It is all to easy to believe that you can afford to take a risk and travel without insurance, however, we all know how unforseen circumstances can happen, therefore covering yourself with travel insurance is your safety net should anything occur, especially if you need medical assistance.

Following on from this post, The UK Treasury Department has now officially given authority to regulate travel insurance policies sold with packaged holidays.

The decision came about after British travelers made complaints that they were having problems making claims as they were not correctly covered by the insurance policies they took out as part of a holiday package.

The FSA said they would:

“review the proposals following the next stage of public consultation by HM Treasury. If the decision is confirmed, the FSA will itself consult with industry and consumer bodies towards the end of the year on the regulatory approach it would take”

The Association of British Insurers welcomed the decision as they have long called for customers to receive the same level of consumer protection regardless of how they buy their travel insurance. They are also interested in ensuring that the new regime will benefit customers rather than adding costs in a competitive market.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health said:

“The FSA will need to ensure that the regulation of all travel insurance is proportionate to reflect the low level of potential customer problems associated with this product, and to ensure that customers are not deterred from buy travel insurance”

Source: Insurance Journal

John Tincey, Vice chairman of the Immigration Service Union said: “There is going to be chaos in the summer”.

This is due to new passport checks for people entering the UK.

Checks for passengers with older passports generally take around 4 seconds to process, however, the new laser scanning machinery, designed to read data in biometric (fingerprint, voice, DNA or physical appearance, such as facial image) passports will double the time passports take to process.

A spokesman for the Government’s Border and Immigration Agency said:

“While allowing most passengers into the UK quickly, thorough checks are necessary to identify criminals, prevent illegal immigration and protect the public. We make no apologies for enforcing our borders.”

Source: The New Scotsman