The latest issue of Which? Travel highlights a concern I have had for a long
time – the way in which travel insurance is so often sold to customers as a
simple product which will allow them to travel “worry-free”, safe in the
knowledge that they have “comprehensive” cover.
In fact, it is a complicated area and if you buy a policy without going
through the details carefully, you may end up with cover limits which are
too low for you. There may be important exclusions which could invalidate
your insurance, and you will probably be missing out on important aspects –
such as protection against insolvency – altogether.
Which? was looking in particular at the way in which airlines sell policies as
a default add-on when you are booking flights. It found that none of the
policies sold for a seven-day short-haul trip by companies such as British
Airways, Ryanair and easyJet met the Which? requirements for “best-buy”
policies. Some airline sites were also using pop-ups to warn customers that
they would be acting against Foreign & Commonwealth Office advice if they
did not buy travel insurance.
No doubt commission on insurance premiums is an important source of extra
revenue, but insurance is too important to be sold through tick-boxes at the
same time as people are already trying to grapple with an online flight
booking system. And it is highly unlikely that the policy offered by an
airline, tour operator or other travel company will be the most suitable,
nor the best value for any one traveller.
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