Two in five Irish travellers go unprotected

A large number of Irish travellers are taking international vacations without the proper travel insurance which, during ski season, means that many people are at risk for running up large, unnecessary bills for emergency treatment abroad.

Research conducted in the UK shows that perhaps as many as a quarter of Britons going abroad on a ski holiday this year were not properly insured. In some cases, travellers held insurance policies but were unaware that their policy did not cover skiing. Others failed to take out any kind of insurance, either feeling that it was not worthwhile or forgetting about it all together.

Although numbers specific to Ireland are not currently available, VIH Healthcare recently conducted a survey revealing that just over half (57 per cent) of Irish travellers took out travel insurance for their vacations in the last year.

Of the travellers who were members of VIH, 2,338 individuals needed emergency medical care while abroad last year, running up bills that totalled €8,712,239. The cost of emergency medical evacuation alone in 2006 cost VHI Healthcare €1,505,147.

VHI’s director of marketing and business development, Declan Moran, said: "Travel insurance is actually very cheap for what you are protecting yourself against."

"Two out of every five people are travelling abroad with no travel insurance,” he continued. “They need to consider the risks, particularly when you consider the relatively low cost of a multi-trip travel insurance policy.

"We had an occasion with one VHI Healthcare MultiTrip policy-holder on holiday in North America who was covered for nearly €1m in emergency medical expenses, under their policy which had cost them just €49 for the year."

Skiers should definitely reconsider before leaving home without insurance since one in every seven people who hit the slopes end up requiring medical treatment, according to one estimate.

Yasmin Purnell Editorial

07/04/08