Britons lack confidence in baggage handling

A Post Office survey has shown that travellers worry about their checked baggage turning up.

Travel Insurance News - 13/08/2009

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The poll found that only 12 per cent of travelling Britons were not worried about their baggage going missing during transit. According to industry figures an average of 10,000 pieces of passenger luggage go missing on a daily basis in Europe.

Although travellers indicate they have no confidence in their bags arriving when they do, they still report packing them with items having a total value of more than a thousand pounds. The value of a woman’s bag is said to average £1,276, while that for a man’s is lower, averaging £998.66.

Despite the lost luggage data, 23 per cent of travellers say that they do not plan on taking out travel insurance – in order to save money on their trips.

Londoners were the most likely to go on a trip without travel insurance, while residents of Northern Ireland were the most likely to purchase the protection.

In the Post Office survey, of the 2,194 people polled, 13 per cent reported that they had had trouble with delayed baggage in the past, with 23 per cent of those indicating they had to wait as long as a week before taking possession of their bags again.

Rachel Croft, speaking on behalf of the Post Office, said: “If you do find yourself arriving on holiday with nothing but your hand luggage, it’s important you keep your receipts to claim back on any purchases you have to make to keep you going.”

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