Don’t get stung on holiday without travel cover, warns insurer

Travellers who favour a quiet week away with a book over extreme sports and adrenalin-fuelled holidays may think that they might be able to get away without travel insurance.

But leading online travel insurer, insurewithease.com, is warning holidaymakers that any trip can have a sting in its tail if they get bitten by something unusual or have an allergic reaction and need urgent medical attention.

In 2009, 5% of insurewithease.com medical claims were for stings, bites and allergies, with the cost for medical treatment for 1 in 3 of these claims reaching over £100. For those who risk a trip abroad without travel insurance cover, stings and bites could leave them smarting financially.

According to insurewithease.com over 26% of all claims relating to bites and stings were in Turkey with Greece second at 18%. Cyprus and the Dominican Republic were also in the top five destinations, with Spain fifth, accounting for 9.5% of these types of claims and illustrating that you don’t have to go very far to still be at risk.

“It doesn’t matter how careful you are on holiday, you can never fully protect yourself, especially from bites and stings and they could prove very costly if you don’t have any insurance cover and have an allergic reaction,” says Sarah Taylor, Online Marketing Manager, insurewithease.com. “Our Silver, single trip cover for a week in Europe costs just £9.09, but our figures show that for a third of people who made claims for these sorts of incidents in 2009, we paid over £100 in medical care. That could put a real dent in a holiday budget if you don’t have any cover, added to which you may not know where to turn to in a foreign destination for help in an emergency.”

insurewithease.com offers a range of flexible policies, all in a matter of clicks. Even a short trip can end up costing thousands if someone falls ill or has an accident, so travelling with the right level of cover is crucial for that added peace of mind.

The insurewithease Silver Policy provides a full range of travel insurance cover, including:

• Cover for single trips up to 90 days
• Cover available for winter sports, golf, business and wedding
• Excess waiver option
• 24-hour worldwide emergency and medical assistance
• Text message service providing policy number and emergency assistance details