Deadly heatwaves across Europe, the US and China are not causing Brits to cancel their holidays just yet, but travel insurance firms are preparing for that trend in the future.
The UK foreign office issued new travel warnings on Tuesday about the “extreme temperatures” especially in Spain, Italy and Greece – known as the Cerberus.
Spokespeople for both Wizz Air and Easyjet told City A.M. that they have not yet seen evidence of Brits abandoning their holidays because of the extreme temperatures.
But insurers major insurers told City A.M. that they are preparing for it to be the case in the near future.
Travel insurance specialist InsureandGo, owned by AllClear, said foreign summer holidays might become “too hot to handle” by just 2028, especially for older Brits.
It said in recent research, 71 per cent of UK adults think Mediterranean destinations will be too hot to visit in five years time, and because travel insurance is currently not available for those who want to cancel due to extreme weather, more will simply chose cooler climates to vacation elsewhere.
Asking more than 2,000 people, more than 40 per cent said Turkey and Spain would be too hot by 2028, with 39 per cent adding in Greece to the mix.
“With blistering heatwaves highlighting the climate emergency, our new research suggests some people may be starting to re-think their holiday destinations for future years and we could see a move to cooler climates if the acute heat and wildfires become an annual trend around the Med,” Garry Nelson, head of corporate affairs at InsureandGo travel insurance, said.
Meanwhile Helen Phipps, director at Compare the Market, said British travellers will face increasing difficulty in getting claims on their travel insurance, if they want to cancel plans due to extreme heat..
“While holiday insurance can cover ‘unforeseen’ events ..instances of extreme heat are usually not included on insurance policies.”
“Brits intending on cancelling their plans due to the extreme weather will therefore be unlikely to make a successful claim. However, for people who have a declared health condition on their policy, which could be made worse and impacted by the high temperatures, it could be possible to successfully make a claim.”
Amid the current heatwave in Europe, she added that it does “not appear to have impacted travel insurance premiums. Policies taken out in May 2023 by those planning a holiday for 7 days in Europe have been, on average, higher than those bought during the first half of July 2023, at £32.79 and £31.60 respectively.”
