Travellers advised to get covered - at home or away

At a time when Britons are facing increasing financial pressures on their everyday lives, almost a third of people (30%) are considering cutting back on their travel insurance, according to latest research from American Express Insurance Services.

American Express Insurance Services is also seeing a shift towards more people taking out single trip travel insurance compared to last year.

Chris Rolland, Head of American Express Insurance Services, commented: "With ‘staycations' on the rise, its still important to make sure trips closer to home are covered so that you're not out of pocket if you have to cancel the trip or if something goes wrong.

"Whether you are planning your holiday in the UK, or looking for a last minute holiday abroad, adequate insurance cover is vital. In the short term, a single trip policy may be tempting to cover the family's main holiday abroad because of the price, but they can then be left exposed if they also holiday within the UK. If a multi-trip annual policy is in place, this will cover you for holidays in the UK as well as abroad."

Ways of cutting down the costs:

If you are planning more than one holiday in the UK within a year, a multi-trip policy could be most cost effective

Annual multi-trip policies can also cover your business trips as well as holiday travel for children (up to the age of 18 or 21) travelling independently

If you are only planning to travel to Europe don't take out worldwide policy - this will reduce the cost

Always try to buy online as this is a way of making further savings as most providers offer online discounts

Indicative cost for a family travelling to Europe in August:

American Express Essential Annual policy (Europe only including ‘staycations' in UK) £35.72 with online discount