One fifth of people in the U.K. don’t purchase travel insurance when taking a trip

A survey by the Abta travel organization has shown that one fifth of all travelers in the United Kingdom take their vacations without purchasing travel insurance. The survey included the participation of 2,018 people and determined that a comparable percentage believed that if anything should go wrong, the U.K. government would pick up the tab. As a result of this surprising statistic, Abta is now urging all travelers to purchase insurance at the same time that they make their holiday bookings. The survey also indicated that the concern that topped…

Read More

New acquisition of Cigna by FirstAssist Insurance Services

As travel has increased by 8 percent, Cigna has seized the opportunity to provide its customers with additional protection against unexpected emergencies while they travel, such as urgent medical situations by acquiring FirstAssist. This acquisition will give a boost to the global footprint made by Cigna International and will grow its affinity partner relationships as it increases the strong distribution expertise and product offered by FirstAssist. FirstAssist Insurance Services was purchased by the Cigna global health services company from Barclays Private Equity. FirstAssist had appeal to Cigna as it is…

Read More

Travel Insurance Awareness Day announced by Access America

US travel insurance and assistance leader, Access America, has announced the launch of Travel Insurance Awareness Day on September 7, 2011. In conjunction with this announcement it will be conducting an event among Orbitz.com customers to find out their top reasons for failing to purchase travel insurance. This event will become a prominent feature of the Orbitz.com website and will provide the site’s visitors with the opportunity to share in a total of $1,000 worth of gift cards when they enter their reasons. This awareness and promotion event is designed…

Read More

Adult sabbatical years lead to four times more travel insurance medical claims

Over the last few years, claims made for medical expenses through travel insurance policies have increased by four times due to a larger number of older adults taking sabbatical years from work and taking exotic vacations. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has released their data that has shown that the cost of overseas illness rose from approximately $122 million in 2004 to approximately $454 million in 2010. The number of claims rose from 120,000 in 2004, to 337,000 in 2010. According to the ABI, even though the cost of…

Read More

The role of travel insurance in the hurricane season

As Hurricane Irene makes its way nearer to the American mainland over the Caribbean islands, travel agents are taking this time to inform their customers about the importance of travel insurance for hurricanes, while answering questions and selling the policies. In order to make sure that their customers are covered for a weather event, travel agents need to make sure that the insurance was purchased a minimum of one day before the U.S. National Weather service has spotted and given a name to the tropical storm or hurricane. This will…

Read More