Don't delay buying holiday insurance

After the excitement of booking a holiday, passengers should make sure their very next step is to buy travel insurance, the Post Office has advised.

Many holidaymakers delay taking out insurance until just before they travel, with leading insurance providers able to bring cover into effect instantaneously.

But insurance customers who remain without cover in the interim leave themselves exposed to financial loss if their holiday is cancelled, the Post Office's head of travel John Howells warned.

"It's essential to take out insurance the moment you book your holiday," he stressed, instead of leaving it until the last minute.

Still, any passenger flying out of Manchester Airport or Birmingham Airport who remembers to arrange holiday insurance will have done better than the 47 per cent of people in the UK who have travelled without insurance at one time in their lives.

Although one in eight said they had simply forgotten to buy insurance, 46 per cent claimed they were confident they would not need cover, seeing holiday insurance as a waste of money.

But, as Mr Howells advised, organising insurance cover before you travel "could save you lots of misery not to mention thousands of pounds".

Posted by Graham Greenaway on the 30/08/2007 12:52:35
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