Press Release

25 January 10

Over one million people leave early holiday bookings unprotected

• · 19% drop in the number of holiday bookings compared with last year
  · Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance offers comprehensive cover at
  competitive premiums
  · Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance offers a 10% online discount

The start of the year is one of the busiest times for booking holidays, but research⁽¹⁾ from Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance reveals that the number of people aged 16 – 64 planning to book a vacation between Christmas and the end of February 2010 is 19% lower than the same period last year.   In addition to this, alarmingly 1.14 million of these early bookers who don’t currently have travel insurance are not intending to purchase any. With many holidays being booked now for later in the year, the supermarket bank is urging people to protect their holiday booking, as should they fall ill and be unable to travel they will lose the cost of their trip. 

Joanne Mallon, Travel Insurance Manager, Sainsbury’s Finance, said: “Anyone travelling abroad on holiday should ensure they have good quality insurance. It’s easy to forget to buy travel insurance during the excitement of booking your holiday, but cover that will provide assistance when abroad and for cancellations should you fall ill before your trip for example, really is as essential as your passport.”

Around 8.9 million people aged 16 – 64 - 23% of those in this age group - plan to book a vacation by the end of February ⁽²⁾, but the corresponding figures for last year were 11.01 million and 30%. ⁽³⁾

Of those people in this age group booking holidays now, the average spend will be £832.97 each, or collectively £7.06 billion.⁽²⁾ Last year, the corresponding figures were £914.65 and £7.64 billion. ⁽³⁾

Joanne Mallon, Travel Insurance Manager, Sainsbury’s Finance, said: “Those people booking holidays now should shop around for insurance to ensure that they find adequate cover at a competitive price There are savings to be made by purchasing an annual policy if you are planning a number of trips within the year." 

Sainsbury’s Finance research reveals that 41% of people booking their holidays during the first few weeks of 2010 already have cover and that 45%, or 3.85 million people aged between 16 and 64 plan to purchase cover.  However, alarmingly, 13% of ‘early bookers’ are not planning to buy travel insurance. ⁽²⁾

In terms of where the early holiday bookers intend to go, 46% intend to book vacations in Europe, followed by 23% in the UK and 7% in the US.    Around 6% intend to book holidays in Asia and 5% in the Caribbean. ⁽²⁾

On a location basis, those living in London, the South West and Wales are the keenest to book a holiday in the New Year ⁽¹⁾ , with 31% and 29% of people living there respectively planning to do this between Christmas and the end of February 2010. In contrast, only 17% of people living in Scotland are planning to do this.

 
To obtain a Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance quote you can log onto www.sainsburysbank.co.uk or call 0800 316 1452.  Lines are open 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and 8am – 7pm Saturday and 9am – 5pm on Sunday.

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:
Phil Anderson / Georgiana Varey
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
020 7638 9571

Notes to Editors:
 ⁽¹⁾The consumer omnibus research was conducted by TNS.  1,036 people were interviewed online between 17th and 21st December 2009, and 850 16-64 yr olds were interviewed on the phone between 19th and 21st December 2008.  TNS uses a large sample size that reflects the demographic profile of the UK.  Given this it is possible to extrapolate figures and make projections from the research results within appropriate confidence intervals.

⁽²⁾The consumer omnibus research was conducted by TNS.  1,036 people were interviewed online between 17th and 21st December 2009.  TNS uses a large sample size that reflects the demographic profile of the UK.  Given this it is possible to extrapolate figures and make projections from the research results within appropriate confidence intervals.

⁽³⁾The consumer omnibus research was conducted by TNS.  850 16-64 yr olds  were interviewed on the phone between 19th and 21st December 2008.  TNS uses a large sample size that reflects the demographic profile of the UK.  Given this it is possible to extrapolate figures and make projections from the research results within appropriate confidence intervals.

Sainsbury’s Finance:
To view our latest press releases and product information, please visit the Sainsbury's Finance online media centre at www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk/media.
Sainsbury’s was the first major British supermarket to open a bank, commencing trading in February 1997. Benefiting from a fantastic, trusted brand that enables us to combine the shopping experience with personal finance, Sainsbury’s Finance provides a range of quality products including insurances, credit cards, savings and loans. Our proposition is to make shopping more rewarding by offering customers great products at fair prices, while consistently rewarding shoppers for their loyalty and being easy to do business with at all times.  Our products consistently top Best Buy tables and regularly win awards for quality, price and service.
Sainsbury’s Finance recent awards include Best Online Credit Card Provider / Best Direct Home Insurance Provider, Your Money 2009
Sainsbury's Finance is a joint venture between J.Sainsbury plc and Lloyds Banking Group.

For further information and general Sainsbury’s Finance enquiries customers can call the freephone number on 0500 40 50 60 or visit www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk
 

Sainsburys Finance Travel Insurance is arranged and administered by FirstAssist Insurance Services Limited on behalf of the insurer, Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC.
 
FirstAssist Insurance Services Limited (FISL) is one of the UK’s leading providers of tailored, flexible white-label specialist insurance solutions and has recently been named as one of the UK’s fastest growing companies in the Sunday Times ‘Buyout Track 100’.
 
FISL has five key areas of insurance expertise: travel, protection, budget health, legal protection and small business, covering over 2m people in the UK. Driven as a specialist business by an entrepreneurial, commercial management team, FISL provides a unique range of products and marketing solutions for Banks, Insurers, Affinity Organisations, Corporates, Intermediaries and SMEs.

Notes to editors/webmasters.
If using this article on a website, please link to www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk using the following hyperlink text at the bottom of the article:
<a href=" _fcksavedurl=""" http://www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk/insuring/ins_travelinsurance_trv_skip.shtml

Click here to return to other items

Tell me more 

• » About us

Money made simple