TRAVEL ARTICLES
Friday, 31 August 2007
Lost luggage claims on the increase
Following up reports that the number of claims for lost and delayed luggage has leapt this year, Go Travel Insurance have recently revealed that as many as 40% of their claims between June 2006 and June 2007 were for lost luggage and InsureandGo has said it received 2,094 claims for lost baggage between January and June.
Further evidence of this unprecedented rise was supplied by the Association of European Airlines (AEA) which reported a 22% increase in lost baggage over the same 6 month period relative to a 1.4% rise in passenger numbers.
Managing director of InsureandGo, Perry Wilson has said "This is clearly a major problem for our customers and we urge the airline and airports industry to improve its performance in this area.
"With the summer holiday season now in full swing, we can unfortunately expect more families' holidays to be ruined by lost baggage."
It's thought that a key factor in the increase is simply that more people are traveling, putting more strain on airports and leading to an increased risk of luggage going missing.
Christian Young of Go Travel Insurance gave travellers advice on how to minimize the chance of losing their luggage: "If travelling with your family it is always advisable to split essential travel items into other suitcases so if one bag goes missing you still have some essential items in another bag, travellers should also avoid taking expensive clothing and jewellery on holiday but if unavoidable carry expensive items with you rather than checking it in.
"Taking out a comprehensive travel insurance policy will cover you for most eventualities if your cases do go missing, offering peace of mind that you will be able to sort the situation out."
Go Travel Insurance policies start from £3.95 for single trip and £31.95 for annual cover and provides £10 million in medical cover.
Further evidence of this unprecedented rise was supplied by the Association of European Airlines (AEA) which reported a 22% increase in lost baggage over the same 6 month period relative to a 1.4% rise in passenger numbers.
Managing director of InsureandGo, Perry Wilson has said "This is clearly a major problem for our customers and we urge the airline and airports industry to improve its performance in this area.
"With the summer holiday season now in full swing, we can unfortunately expect more families' holidays to be ruined by lost baggage."
It's thought that a key factor in the increase is simply that more people are traveling, putting more strain on airports and leading to an increased risk of luggage going missing.
Christian Young of Go Travel Insurance gave travellers advice on how to minimize the chance of losing their luggage: "If travelling with your family it is always advisable to split essential travel items into other suitcases so if one bag goes missing you still have some essential items in another bag, travellers should also avoid taking expensive clothing and jewellery on holiday but if unavoidable carry expensive items with you rather than checking it in.
"Taking out a comprehensive travel insurance policy will cover you for most eventualities if your cases do go missing, offering peace of mind that you will be able to sort the situation out."
Go Travel Insurance policies start from £3.95 for single trip and £31.95 for annual cover and provides £10 million in medical cover.
