Travel insurers fear increase in false claims
Experts are predicting an increase in the number of dubious insurance claims by travellers trying to offset the cost of their summer holidays by apparently losing expensive items that happen to be covered by their travel insurance. Sometimes, they even increase the actual costs of their losses when they do happen.
Insurers are already starting to notice this in the motor vehicle insurance area, which has experienced an increase of 13% in suspicious claims during the past few months. This is similar to the increase in holiday cover claims.
One of the biggest increases expected is in claims for trip 'cancellation', which is when travellers realise how much their two weeks abroad is really going to cost compared to what they thought when they booked the holiday earlier. It is also expecting additional claims on the loss of small items, which were ignored by policyholders.