ABTA defends agents over bank's attack

ABTA has launched a vigorous defence of its members after Sainsbury’s Bank claimed travel agents were misleading the public over the sale of insurance. Sainsbury’s claimed research showed that 6 per cent of people who claim to have bought insurance from travel agents over the past 12 months, some 726,000 holidaymakers, were told they could not book their holidays unless they took out the retailer’s cover. The bank also claimed that around 15 per cent of those who have purchased cover from travel agents this year, around 1.89 million people, were not asked about pre-existing medical conditions. ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds said: “Sainsbury’s Bank is once again issuing propaganda about travel agents in order to increase its market share. “It is not a legal requirement to take out travel insurance for a holiday, but it is a legal requirement for those selling package holidays to make consumers aware of the importance of buying a travel insurance policy. “Complaints about the sale of travel insurance are extremely low. Over 18 million travel policies are sold annually yet less than 1,088 complaints a year reach the Financial Ombudsman and, of these, only a tiny proportion are about travel agents. Also, less than one percent of the complaints to ABTA are about travel insurance.” The Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint from ABTA about a Sainsbury’s leaflet advertising travel insurance last April. The ASA considered that Sainsbury’s claim that customers would always save money compared with all travel agents was unjustified and advised them to amend future adverts.