You may think that buying travel insurance with your flights is a great way to save yourself both time and money. However, low cost carriers have come under fire recently for continuing to flout EU laws regarding holiday insurance. So what does this mean for your holiday preparation?
EasyJet, Jet2 and Monarch are three low cost airlines that have recently hit the headlines for ignoring EU guidelines regarding the sale of travel insurance. An EU ruling made in November 2009 states that travel organisations can not automatically add ancillary services such as holiday insurance, car hire and excursion tickets onto customer’s holiday bookings. If a customer wishes to add travel insurance on to their holiday package then this should be via a check box allowing them to opt in.
Many low cost carriers instead have been automatically adding holiday insurance on to their customer’s bargain flights and instead only giving them the option to ‘opt out’ if they don’t wish to receive the travel insurance offered. This not only is the complete opposite of the rules that the EU put into place, but also means that many customers rushing through their bookings buy travel insurance that they either already have or don’t really need.
Purchasing holiday insurance at the same time as your flights may seem like an excellent way to save yourself both time and money, but in reality often does neither. The holiday insurance that low cost carriers offer can be extremely pricey in comparison with the cheap travel insurance policies that are available online. Easyjet often add holiday insurance to customer’s trips at a cost ranging from £8.00 to £14.00, for just a single trip to Europe. When you consider that many holiday insurance companies are able to offer their customers annual policies for just over half this amount you’ll see just how extortionate this price really this.
However, price extortion is the least of your worries when you hear that many more airlines have been pulled up for offering travel insurance policies that are not comprehensive enough to meet their customer’s needs. Holiday insurance packages offered by the airlines Ryanair, British Airways and Wizz are failing to meet the Which standards for curtailment costs, cancellation and lost and stolen baggage, proving that purchasing holiday insurance at the same time as your flights isn’t always the way forward.
With the continued flouting of the European Union guidelines despite low cost carriers knowing the consequences of their actions, it is a good idea to double check your flight booking before handing over your credit card details. Remember that many airlines will also attempt to add extras such as car hire and airport transfers, so be sure that you have opted out of all the relevant boxes.
It is a good idea to spend some time online shopping around for the best holiday insurance deals. With so many travel insurance companies failing to comply with the guidelines, it is wise to spend some time reading the terms and conditions of the holiday insurance to ensure that the policy you purchase is not only great value for money but also offers cover which is comprehensive enough for your holiday needs.
Author Resource:-
Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Journey’s Travel. Their commercial travel insurance website, Insuremore (http://insuremore.co.uk/) offers travel insurance for families, couples and singles with a quick and easy online claims feature.
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