travel insurance

Research undertaken by Alliance & Leicester has shown that UK holidaymakers pay £1.3bn more than they need to on travel insurance each year. This is despite the fact that travel insurance appears to be relatively cheap – normally around £25 for each week abroad. So how are we managing to overspend so excessively?

About 60% of us are taking the ‘easy’ option and using travel agents to obtain insurance at the same time as we book our holiday. In fact, insurance sold through agencies helps them boost their profits and can be up to five times the cost of buying it separately. In some cases travel insurance is promoted as a ‘free’ add-on with the package – but the reality is that you will be paying for it somewhere along the line.

The fact is that online travel insurance companies have blown the holiday market wide open. Without the overheads of running high-street stores, online retailers can offer cheaper flights, hotels and car hire. This also applies to travel insura