Travel insurance has never been cheaper

With the growth in overseas travel showing no signs of slowing the need for travel insurance has never been greater. The number of trips abroad grew by over 17% between 2002 and 2006 and Britons are travelling further and further a field in search of the ultimate holiday experience.

Despite the well known dangers around 1 in 7 travellers still go abroad without any travel insurance. Yet a new report from financial research company Defaqto shows that most travel insurance policies have never been cheaper than today.

In the report, "Travel Insurance 2008 - Adapting to a Changing World", Defaqto has analysed prices for over 235 single trip and 245 annual travel policies, looking at how premiums have moved since 2002.

The only area where premiums have increased in the past year was for annual travel cover to the USA. However premiums are still lower than they were in 2003, even before inflation is taken into account.

"Competition in the travel insurance market is having a very significant effect on the price of travel cover", says report author Brian Brown. "The availability of a huge number of policies, many of them online, has driven many insurers to lower their premiums".

"Single trip cover to Europe can now be bought for as little as £6.00 for a week's holiday", says Brown and adds: "There really should be no excuse for people to travel uninsured"

However Travellers should be careful to ensure they understand what they are buying, since all policies offer differing levels of cover.

Customers can check how their travel policy compares with any other product in the market by using Defaqto's Compare tool, available online at defaqto.com This tool shows customers the key items of cover for each of the single trip, annual travel and winter sports policies held on Defaqto's database.