Over 55s Need Travel Insurance for More Adventurous Holidays

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has had its attention taken away from the behaviour of the 18-30 groups and is now focused on the over 55s.

This shift is as a result of more and more over 55-year-olds taking part in more adventurous activities while they are away on holiday and with many of them expected not to have travel insurance, this could prove to be very dangerous.

The Foreign Office has found that one in five tourists are taking risks on holiday that they would never think of at home.

The problem with this risk taking is that one in five holidaymakers also say that they or their partner have suffered some sort of injury whilst they have been abroad. The figures have also shown that 14% of holidaymakers are apparently less worried about their safety when they are away on holiday than when they are at home. A further one in 10 said that they would not follow the same safely advice themselves that they give to their children.

As well as some tourists not having travel insurance, more than 80% of the holidaymakers over 55 do not go for a health check before they go on holiday and even though 14% of tourists worry less about their health and safety while they are away, pre-existing illnesses and perhaps even new symptoms can easily emerge and the medical bills can be very expensive.

Advice offered by the Foreign Office states that you should not ignore any health worries, no matter how insignificant they may seem. They also advise that you should visit your doctor at least six weeks before you travel.

The Foreign Office also suggests that you shouldn’t drink too much whilst you are away, as too much alcohol and sun do not mix well and, just as you’ll find at home, too much alcohol also puts you more at risk of having an accident or becoming a victim of crime.

However, the most important advice that the Foreign Office recommends is that you should check that you are covered for all eventualities, you should make sure that your holiday insurance covers you for everything you are going to do or everything that you may decide to do whilst you are away.

The Foreign Office insists that they are not trying to spoil anyone’s holiday, but that simple preparations should be made to avoid encountering problems whilst you are away.