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Travel Insurance -
Travel Insurance Pays Off |
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If a medical emergency strikes during your dream holiday, you could find your life and bank balance in serious danger unless you have adequate travel insurance.
Lynn Williams was one traveller who is thanking her lucky stars she chose to take travel insurance on her holiday.
A few years ago, Ms Williams had a holiday touring New Zealand and Australia booked. On the day before she was due to set off, she was struck down by a sudden pain in her stomach.
Ms Williams decided to visit hospital to get it checked out and it turned out she had a suspicious growth. Immediate surgery was needed and Ms Williams had to cancel her holiday.
As she had taken out a high quality insuance policy costing £120, her holiday was ruined but she did not lose any money.
The hotel, flights and cruise she was booked into were all refunded as she was never able to use them.
Had she not had comprehensive cover, Ms Williams would have lost out on thousands of pounds. She says having insurance was one of the best decisions she made, enabling her to re book her trip rather than have it ruined by a health scare.
And it seems that more people are coming to the conclusion that travel insurance is a good idea.
Since events such as the chaos at terminal five, hurricans across America and terrorist attacks, more people are ensuring that they book travel insurance before jetting off on their holiday.
Consumer advocates advise careful shopping to ensure that you have the cover you need and are not paying extra for cover you already have. The internet has meant that more people are booking cover without help from an advisor and may not be getting the cover they were expecting.
The popularity of travel insurance in recent years is illistrated by figures from the travel insurance association that show £900 million was sent on travel insurance in 2006, a 20 per cent rise since 2004.
The events of September 11th had a big impact on the travel insurance industry. The events meant that air traffic was closed down for days, meaning millions of travellers without insurance lost out.
Before September 11th, only 10 per cent of leisure travellers had insurance arranged before taking their holiday. Since the dramatic terrorist attacks, that figure has tripled, with 30 per cent of leisure travellers now taking insurance on their holiday.
With the delays and problems at heathrow terminal 5, travel insurance is once more in the spotlight and insurance companies have seen an increase in the number of travellers with insurance.
However, this boom is already slowing as people forget the chais of terminal five rather quickly, unlike September 11th which has had a long lasting effect on the numbers with travel insurance.
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