Finaccord' s Travel Metrics series of reports offers detailed and unique insights into the behaviour of consumers in the context of travel insurance. Based on a primary survey of consumers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK carried out between June and August 2006, the research provides valuable data describing the extent to which those undertaking significant journeys take out travel insurance and clarifying the proportion of uninsured travellers who recognise the benefits of the insurance but simply do not get round to acquiring cover.

In addition to calculating the percentage of consumers that buys travel insurance in each country, the investigation also analyses the types of policy that they buy (ie. annual policies, single trip policies or policies packaged automatically with holidays / travel tickets or credit cards), whether they hold comprehensive or partial cover for travel-related risks, which distribution channel and interface they use to take out travel insurance and whether they buy a policy at the same time as arranging a holiday or travel ticket or either in advance or retrospectively.

Finally, the reports measure the degree to which consumers are satisfied with their insurance, whether they find it expensive and if they are unlikely to purchase it the next time that they undertake a significant trip, and rank major underwriters of travel insurance according to the frequency with which they are identified by consumers as the provider of their policy.

0.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Compared to continental Europe, UK consumers are conscientious about acquiring travel cover
• Single trip policies remain the most commonly used by insured travellers in the UK
• The vast majority of insured individuals possess comprehensive travel insurance policies
• Many insured travellers lack awareness of the ultimate underwriter or provider of their insurance
• The distribution share of the travel trade has shrunk in the wake of competition from multiple sources
• The research suggests a comparatively buoyant market for retrospective or ' last minute' sales
• A clear majority of insured travellers appear to be fully satisfied with the cover that they acquired
• Managing distribution channel evolution is the key challenge for providers of travel insurance

1.0 INTRODUCTION

• Finaccord
• European consumer research
• Travel insurance
• Creditor insurance
• Mobile telephone insurance
• European market, partnership and bancassurance research
• Research rationale
• Consumer research illustrates the differences between Europe' s five most populous markets...
• ... thereby helping underwriters and distributors to develop robust strategies for future development
• Research sample
• The research embraces a total of 1,340 respondents in the UK
• Research strengths and weaknesses
• A mixed Internet and telephone research methodology produces balanced results...
• ... assisting insurance companies and other interested parties to benchmark their performance

2.0 SURVEY ANALYSIS

• Introduction
• % of respondents undertaking significant travel
• % of respondents covered by insurance the last time that they travelled
• Attitudes towards travel insurance of respondents without cover
• Types of travel insurance protecting respondents
• Risks covered by travel insurance protecting respondents
• Identities of underwriters offering travel insurance
• Policies paid for separately and automatic packaging
• Distribution channels used for travel insurance
• Distribution interfaces used for travel insurance
• Point in time chosen by respondents to obtain travel insurance
• Attitudes towards travel insurance of respondents with cover

GRAPHICS / TABLES

• Sample breakdown in the UK by age group, household income band and geographical location
• % of respondents in the UK undertaking significant travel, 2004-6
• % of respondents in the UK covered by insurance the last time that they undertook significant travel, 2004-6
• % split of attitudes towards travel ins. of resps. in the UK undertaking significant travel without cover, 2004-6
• Types of travel insurance protecting respondents in the UK, 2004-6
• Risks covered by travel insurance in the UK, 2004-6 (penetration among those with travel insurance)
• Risks covered by travel insurance in the UK, 2004-6 (penetration among all undertaking significant travel)
• Identities of underwriters offering travel insurance in the UK, 2004-6
• Segment. of travel ins. in the UK between pols. paid for separately and pols. packaged automatically, 2004-6
• Distribution channels used for stand-alone travel insurance protecting respondents in the UK, 2004-6
• Distribution interfaces used for stand-alone travel insurance protecting respondents in the UK, 2004-6
• Point in time chosen by respondents in the UK to obtain stand-alone travel insurance, 2004-6
• % split of attitudes towards travel insurance of respondents in the UK with cover, 2004-6