More than 1,000 Brits a day lost bags at airports, study shows
Sunday, 23 Mar, 2009
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Lost or stolen baggage was the second most common cause for travel insurance claims last year, according to new research.
An estimated 396,000 British travellers contacting their travel insurer to submit claims under this category.
The settlement value of these claims totalled £37.9m, up 8% on 2007.
An average of 1,086 Britons lost luggage at airports every day last year, the research by travel insurer InsureandGo found.
An estimated 44,000 of the victims of lost luggage, or one in eight (12%) of them, think it was stolen.
The findings also reveal that one in eight (12%) of all adults distrust baggage handlers at airports.
More than 20% are so worried about losing their bags that they admit to having deliberately packed less so they can only take hand luggage onto the flight, in an effort to reduce the risk of baggage loss.
But the most expensive type of claim for the UK travel insurance industry was medical claims, the cost of which rose 58% since 2007, to more than £383 million based on 565,500 claims.
There was also been a big increase in claims for flight cancellations. In the year of the disastrous opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5, there were more than 240,000 claims for flight cancellation, a 23% rise on 2007.
The average value of these claims also increased by 22%, creating a 51% increase in the total value of these claims paid out by the UK travel insurance industry, from £77 million to £116 million.
The top five travel insurance claims for 2008 were: medical problems; lost or stolen baggage; cancellation of flights; lost or stolen money and travel delay.
The company estimates that UK travel insurers paid out on more than 1.45 million claims in these five categories last year totalling some £553 million in value.
Perry Wilson, founder of InsureandGo, said: “Lost baggage remains one of the most common problems for holidaymakers.
“The average lost luggage claim cost has risen quite substantially, which suggests that either people are packing more expensive luggage, or they have started exaggerating the value of it.”
He added: “Medical claims are still the most costly for the travel insurance industry.
“Unfortunately the average claim value seems to be rocketing, which highlights just how important it is for people to have adequate travel insurance, particularly when times are tough.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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