Travel Insurance Costs Drop By 9% In A Year

Holidaymakers are saving an average 9% on the cost of travel insurance this year providing some compensation for the collapse of the pound, new research¹ from insurance market research experts Consumer Intelligence shows.

Average premiums dropped to £25 in the year to May as competition in the market increased, according to Consumer Intelligence’s Travel Insurance Price Index which monitors the five most competitive travel policies across comparison websites and direct insurers.

Tourists heading for Europe are seeing the biggest change in premiums with the average of the most competitive premiums 12.4% lower on average than last year while under-50s holidaymakers are the biggest individual winners with premiums dropping 10.6%.

Average premiums for European trips are now £16 while under-50s will pay an average £21 compared with £31 for over-50s.

The price difference between annual insurance and single trip insurance is narrowing with annual insurance costs dropping 11% in the year to May compared with 7.6% for single trip. Average annual insurance costs £33 and single trip £19.

The most expensive policy for holidaymakers is worldwide cover including the US and Canada where average premiums are £38.

Ian Hughes, Chief Executive of Consumer Intelligence said:

“The fall in the cost of travel insurance is some comfort for holidaymakers watching the pound drop to a 31-year low although a 9% drop in price on an average £25 policy doesn’t go that far.

“The EU Referendum result may have an impact on travel insurance in the future if the EHIC scheme is scrapped or not renegotiated but for now holidaymakers are seeing the benefits of competition.

“Travel insurance premiums were not affected by the increases in Insurance Premium Tax introduced by the Government last year as it already includes a higher rate of tax.”

The table below outlines average premiums and price falls across different policy categories and age groups. 

 1 The cheapest premiums were calculated by comparing the prices offered for 200 people by all the major Price Comparison Sites and key direct insurers. The top 5 prices for each person were compared to the previous month’s top 5, then these variations averaged to produce the index from 2016.

About Consumer Intelligence

Consumer Intelligence (CI) is a market research agency specialising in the General Insurance and Banking Sectors. We continue to perfect the art of collecting data so that organisations can benchmark themselves. Since 2003, we have collected and analysed millions of prices across the telephone, direct insurer websites and aggregator channels. For more information, contact us now.