Every ash cloud has a silver lining

New research from leading comparison website Gocompare.com reveals that the publicity surrounding the disruption caused by the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland and industrial action at British Airways earlier this year has prompted wary Brits to take a lot more interest in their travel insurance.

Nearly 1 in 5 British holidaymakers said they will be taking more care to check what is and isn't covered by their policy, and nearly 7% are likely to spend more money to get a better insurance policy rather than just choose the cheapest.

Around 90% of Brits will take out travel insurance before they go abroad this year, with 60% shopping around for the best deal by using a comparison website. However, around 1 in 10 travellers are still willing to run the risk of incurring unexpected travel expenses, losing their luggage or facing sky high medical bills by refusing to buy any travel insurance whatsoever.

Gocompare.com's travel insurance comparison service now enables people to search for travel insurance policies that include additional cover for disruption caused by natural catastrophes such as a volcanic ash cloud. Insurers such as Bell, Elephant, Bargain Insurance and etravelinsurance.co.uk now offer a policy option known as ‘Travel Disruption Extension' and Gocompare.com customers can now filter the results of their comparisons to include this additional level of cover.

Mark Greening, head of partnership products at Gocompare.com, said: "Many travellers caught up in the ash cloud chaos earlier this year expected their travel insurance policy to pay out for the additional costs they had to meet, but lots of people had to foot these extra bills themselves. Our research has shown that the publicity generated by the widespread disruption has caused many thousands of British holidaymakers to take far more interest in what their policy covers, rather than simply looking at the cost.

"This could be bad news for some budget insurers who sell purely on cost rather than cover but hopefully many more holidaymakers heading for the sun this year will be travelling with the right travel insurance rather than simply the cheapest."