Travel insurance statistics: can Brits afford to travel without?

When planning a trip away, the last thing you want is for something to go wrong. However, buying travel insurance can end up saving you thousands on medical bills and help protect you against lost luggage and cancelled flights. We look at the latest travel insurance statistics in the UK.

Quick overview

The average cost of travel insurance is £25.57 for trips within Europe and £87.96 for trips worldwide.
The travel insurance market size in 2023 is £448 million in terms of gross written premiums.
The total number of claims in 2022 was 362,000, up 148% compared to 2021.
The total payouts from claims in 2022 was £352 million, up 230% from £107 million in 2021.
The average travel insurance claim per person in 2022 was £973.
The average claim for emergency medical treatment in 2022 was £1,750.
In 2022, travel insurers dealt with one claim every 2 minutes.
A fifth (21%) of British holidaymakers travelled without insurance in the year to May 2019.

What is the average cost of travel insurance?

The average cost of travel insurance is £25.57 for trips within Europe and £87.96 for trips worldwide. This is based on single-trip insurance cover for healthy adults on a 10-day trip, averaging the 10 cheapest quotes.

It is worth noting that higher prices for older age brackets heavily skewed these averages. For those aged 50 and under, the European average falls to between £13 and £10.87. Meanwhile, the worldwide average falls to between £35.81 and £29.85 for the same age bracket.

Interestingly, travel insurance is higher for a 20-year-old than a 30-year-old in both cases, possibly due to a higher propensity to engage in risky behaviour for younger people. Otherwise, travel insurance increases in price with age.

What is the average cost of travel insurance for over 70s?

The average cost of travel insurance for over 70s is £58.45 for trips within Europe and £219.05 for trips worldwide. This is based on single-trip insurance cover for healthy adults on a 10-day trip, averaging the 10 cheapest quotes.

The average for those aged 70 is £30.28 for Europe and £99.30 worldwide. Meanwhile, for those aged 80, the average is £86.61 for Europe and £338.80 worldwide.

Graph
Table

Cost of single trip travel insurance by age	Europe	Worldwide
20 years old	£11.42	£31.09
30 years old	£10.87	£29.85
40 years old	£11.83	£34.71
50 years old	£13.00	£35.81
60 years old	£14.98	£46.17
70 years old	£30.28	£99.30
80 years old	£86.61	£338.80
Average	£25.57	£87.96

Travel insurance claims and payouts

The total number of travel insurance claims in 2022 was 362,000, up 148% from 2021, where they totalled 146,000. In 2022, travel insurers dealt with one claim every 2 minutes on average.

The number of cancellation claims makes up around one-third of all claims, with 129,000, up 75% from 2021. This increase may be due to the increase in trips taken post-pandemic. Medical claims also account for around one-third of all claims, with 112,000, up 235% from 2021.

Travel insurance payouts totalled £352 million in 2022, up 230% compared to £107 million in payouts in 2021. The average claim amounted to £973 in 2022, but this figure jumped to £1,750 for the average emergency medical treatment claim.

Stats	2022	2021
Total number of claims	362000	145968
Total payouts	£352 million	£107 million
Number of cancellation claims	129000	73714
Number of medical claims	112000	33433
Average claim	£973	£732
Average emergency medical treatment claim	£1,750	£1,389

How many people travel without insurance?

Research from 2019 found that a fifth (21%) of British holidaymakers had travelled without insurance in the past year. 37% of this group did so because they thought they didn’t need it, while 28% said it was a risk they were willing to take.

How satisfied are Brits with their travel insurance?

Customer satisfaction with travel insurance companies was 87% in 2023, according to the latest Public Trust Index from the Chartered Insurance Institute. This year’s customer satisfaction represents an all-time high since the start of data collection in 2018. Customer satisfaction has been steadily rising, from 76% in 2021 to 86% in 2022.

Year	Travel insurance satisfaction
2021	76%
2022	86%
2023	87%

Sources

Association of British Insurers
Chartered Insurance Institute
Mordor Intelligence
NimbleFins

Quick overview

Up to 8.6 million Brits travelled abroad uninsured in the summer of 2019.
On a basic travel insurance policy, Brits pay an average of £9.40 for a single-trip policy and £21 for an annual multi-trip policy.
£399 million was paid out by travel insurers in 2018.
498,000 individuals and families claimed on travel insurance in 2018.
The average travel insurance claim therefore amounted to over £800 in 2018.
One Brit travelling abroad recently amounted a medical bill of £760,000 while visiting America.
On an average UK salary of £27,500, this would take 25 years to repay.

£399 million

Was paid out by travel insurance companies in 2018.

Who is buying travel insurance and who isn’t?

With over 70 million trips taken abroad by Brits in 2017, there’s plenty of need for travel insurance – but who is buying it and who is risking going without?

21% of Brits travel without travel insurance.
This is 4% lower than in 2017.
18 to 24-year-olds are the most likely to travel uninsured, with 40% going without.
25 to 34-year-olds are close behind with 38% travelling without insurance.
Both of these groups have risen from 31% in 2016.
Meanwhile just 25% of 35-44 year olds and 23% of 45-54 year olds travel without insurance.
The most cautious age group is those aged 55+, where just 14% of travellers go without travel insurance.

Why are people risking going without?

Medical bills can easily amount to thousands of pounds, especially in countries without universal health care, such as the US – so why are some Brits deciding to go without travel insurance?

21% of Brits admitted to travelling without travel insurance in the last 12 months.
37% of Brits felt like they did not need it.

28%

Of Brits said travelling without travel insurance was a risk they were willing to take.

How much does travel insurance cost?

The amount your travel insurance will cost depends on many factors, including the location of your trip, the length of time you are going away, your personal circumstances (such as age and medical history) and the type of holiday you are going on.

Below, we explore the average cost of a policy for a single, 30-year-old adult.

Average cost of travel insurance by location and level of excess
Table

Level of cancellation cover	Europe Single Trip	Europe Multitrip	USA Single Trip	USA Multitrip
£1,000	£5.70	£11.50	£16.30	£26.20
£2,000	£8.10	£16.00	£22.50	£38.70
£5,000	£10.60	£26.20	£38.40	£60.90

Travel insurance payout

In 2018, there was a travel insurance claim every minute – but what was being claimed for?

498,000 individuals and families claimed on travel insurance in 2018.
£399 million was paid out by travel insurers in 2018.
The majority of claims were made for medical expenses, totalling £209 million.
The total payout for cancelled holidays was £145 million.
£17 million was paid out to 86,000 people for lost baggage and money whilst travelling.
87.6% of travel insurance claims were paid out in 2018.

£1.1 million

Was paid out every day by travel insurers in 2018.

Big travel insurance payouts

The average claim for medical expenses is £1,300 – an increase of 40% since 2011. Despite the average claim being £1,300, it is not uncommon to rack up thousands in medical expenses when travelling abroad.

The USA attracts more than 3.8 million UK visitors a year – and with a notoriously expensive healthcare system, it might come as no surprise that some of the biggest claims are by Brits visiting America. We explored some of the biggest claims from Brits in recent years to give you an idea of just how important travel insurance can be.

The biggest claim on our list is for £760,000 by a tourist visiting the USA who required treatment for a stroke and an air ambulance back to the UK.
In March 2019, a Brit who travelled to Mexico had their £300,000 medical claim denied after failing to disclose an inhaler prescription.
The third largest claim is for over £250,000 by a traveller visiting the US who fell off a bicycle and required medical treatment for a brain haemorrhage and broken shoulder.

25 years

It would take 25 years working on an average UK salary of £27,500 to pay off the most expensive medical bill on our list of £760,000.

Car rental insurance

While insurance is included in all car rental agreements, the minimum excess cost (the amount consumers have to pay before the insurer starts to foot the bill) generally starts at £1,000. So, if you damaged your rental and were faced with a bill of £900, you would need to cover it all.

To avoid this scenario, there are 2 options. You can either purchase a super collision damage waiver from the rental firm or excess reimbursement insurance from an independent provider before you travel. More information on this can be found on our car hire home page.

So, how much are Brits prepared to spend on repairing damages to their rental cars?

Only 2% are prepared to pay up to £1,000.
Over half (54%) are only willing to pay up to £100.
The maximum that UK drivers are willing to pay on average is £217.
Men would fork out almost £50 more than women (£241 vs £192).

Travel insurance industry statistics

How big is the travel insurance industry, and how many claims are policy-holders making?

Claims are at their highest level since 2010 – when the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull cost insurers £455 million.
The number of claims rose by 30,000 in 2017, amounting to one claim every minute.
This rise was largely attributed to a rise in cancellation claims from events such as airline disruption and restrictive weather.

Travel insurance provider statistics

When buying your travel insurance, it’s important to shop around and get the right policy for you and your holiday. We explored all the travel insurance providers on Finder to give you a breakdown of some key stats.