Travel insurance for UK travellers: How the market for insurance has grown

It is truly a small world after all, and more and more people in the UK are purchasing travel insurance to help them see it. Statistically speaking, British travellers have always been very conservative when it came to travelling. In the past, most families only took one holiday per year. All of that has changed recently, however. Statistics now show that British travellers are taking multiple trips per year and are purchasing travel insurance like never before. What has brought about this change?

One thing that is contributing to the number of trips taken by Brits is the number of connections that they have overseas. Most people in the UK have family, friends and loved ones living abroad. So instead of taking one holiday per year, many have started taking several short holidays so that they can connect with their loved ones. In fact, visits to family and friends account for most of the growth experienced in the UK travelling market. The number of holidays taken by families has increased as well.

All of this travelling has led to an increase in the UK travel insurance market. The travel insurance market has increased greatly over the past few years and is estimated to be work an estimated GBP838 million in 2011.

Even though the amount earned by insurance companies is on the rise, the price of their policies has stayed the same. Fierce competition among competitors has left the price for travel insurance relatively stable.

In addition to selling more policies, travel insurance companies are selling different kinds of policies. There are basically two types of travel insurance: insurance that covers you for a single trip and insurance that covers all of your travels for a year.

As people have begun taking several trips a year, it is more affordable for them to buy annual policies rather than individual policies for each trip. These travel insurance policies are more expensive which is another factor contributing to the growth in the market. However, single trip policies are still the most popular form of travel insurance purchased by UK travellers.

Older travellers are safe travellers. Statistics show that older travellers are more likely to purchase travel insurance than younger ones. Since Britain’s population is ageing, this could account for some of the growth experienced in the travel insurance market. But most of the growth is due to the changing travelling habits of Brits.

So, what has spurred all of these additional holidays? Are people in the UK making more money and so are better able to afford trips abroad? Interestingly, the answer is no. People in the UK are making about the same amount of money as they did in the past. The only thing that has changed is their travel habits. With shorter trips replacing long annual holidays, we can expect the travel insurance market in the UK to increase

Steven Clarke - Marketing Manager for www.mytravelinsurance.org.uk. We offer a travel insurance service which compares all the UK’s travel insurance deals to find you the cheapest insurance quote.