15% of people planning a trip abroad will have no Travel Insurance cover – AA Survey
An AA survey of 3,500 people who are planning to travel outside the country between now and the end of the year has revealed that 15% will be doing so without any form of travel insurance.
Carried out as part of a broader poll of AA Motorist Panel members, the AA survey asked whether people were planning a trip outside of the country before the end of the year. 3,500 respondents (41% of total sample of 8,394 people) said that they were taking at least 1 trip outside of Ireland.
15% of people travelling have no travel insurance cover. 62.4% have annual travel insurance, 13.4% will have insurance for the single trip and 7% of people will have insurance provided by their employer.
It is quite a shock to see how many people just don't both with any form of travel insurance. It is not compulsory but when you need it you can be sure you will need it badly.
Skiing Trips: Winter sports cover a must
You must ask specifically about insurance for winter activities like skiing, which will NOT be covered in typical travel insurance. Find out more about AA travel insurance and Winter sports cover here.
USA medical cover essential
The AA has warned particularly about people travelling to North America without insurance cover. 5.4% of people heading across the Atlantic in the next 2 months planned to do so with no insurance cover at all.
This is very high risk, especially in the USA. No-one plans for a serious medical problem but if that affects you in America and you are uninsured you could be faced with the prospect of huge medical bills, often ten or twenty times larger than medical bills in Europe. No one should go without cover, and you should consider the nature of your cover carefully.
People travelling for business reasons were only marginally better. 34% had insurance provided by their employer and 54.2% had their own annual cover, but 10.6% of those on business trips had no cover at all. Males are slightly more inclined to take a risk – 15.9% had no insurance versus 13.4% for females.
11% of all respondents to the AA Motorist’s Panel poll of 8,394 are not leaving the island but are planning a trip to Northern Ireland before the end of the year, including those planning on Christmas shopping. 23% of those people had no form of Travel Insurance. AA Travel Insurance covers people for journeys within Ireland.