Warning over travel insurance on airline websites

BE on the look out when booking flights to France as a number of airlines have been found to automatically add travel insurance, a breach of EU rules.

Consumer watchdog Which? Holiday found four airlines were ignoring an EU ruling which states that they cannot automatically add extras such as insurance at the time of booking.

Easyjet, Jet2 and Monarch all automatically add travel insurance policies, costing between £7 and £10.49 per passenger, while cancellation insurance for flights returning on the same day is added automatically by Air Berlin, costing €12.

Consumers have to un-tick a box to opt out of the insurance.

Lorna Cowan, editor of Which? Holiday, said: "With airlines still opting people into insurance, consumers could unwittingly buy a product which is of no use to them, and at up to £10 per person this can add up.

"Buying insurance at the same time as your flights may seem like an easy and convenient option. But if you’ve already got an insurance policy, or it doesn’t provide the right amount of cover for you, it’s as useless as no cover at all."

Some single trip insurance policies were also found to be lacking with restrictions or exclusions not made clear at the point of sale.

For example, BA, Flybe and Wizz’s single-trip insurance only covers travellers under 65 years old, and on all airline travel insurance there are restrictions for pre-existing medical conditions.

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Comments

[Derek Drew]

Not to be outdone on this, Ryanair has ensured that booking online is impossible unless their insurance box is checked - at least that's what I found. Having rejected their insurance the site loses information and as you seek to reinstate it you are timed out. Why offer flights for nothing then pile on extra charges? A reasonable cost to reach your destination costing in appropriate services would improve Ryanair's image and its PR no end!