Study finds elderly Brit travellers lack medical cover

A recently-released report details the problem of elderly travellers who lack travel insurance.

Travel Insurance News - 22/07/2010

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Many elderly British travellers are falling ill while on holiday abroad and end up facing expensive bills for medical treatment and emergency repatriation. That’s the warning being given by a number of industry bodies, following the release of a study by the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO).

The British Behaviour Abroad report, issued annually by the FCO, analyses cases reported to FCO staff around the world. The latest report studied data covering the period from April 2009 to March 2010. As a result of the survey, the FCO is warning elderly British travellers to ensure they carry sufficient medical insurance before heading abroad. The Association of British Insurers earlier reported that its members paid out a record £274 million to cover medical bills for British holidaymakers in 2009.

The FCO also said 944 Britons abroad were arrested last year for drug-related offences. This accounted for one-seventh of all the Brits arrested abroad in 2009. Spain was the biggest drain on UK consular resources, with 5,283 Brits seeing assistance. The greatest number of Brits needing hospitalization, 823, was in Spain. At 471, Greece was second, and Egypt followed up with 235.

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