Increase in hospitalisations highlights importance of travel insurance

Last week the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) published its latest British Behaviour abroad report. The report, which is published annually, analyses how many Brits have been helped by the FCO's overseas consular service during the course of the year.

The number of Brits requiring hospitalisation whilst abroad, or requiring help with lost or stolen passports, highlights the importance of having travel insurance every time you travel.

This year's report shows that the total number of Brits being hospitalised abroad, in the year from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 was 3752. That's an increase of 1.7% on the previous year.

This increase is despite the fact that fewer people from the UK travelled abroad last year.

Spain has the highest cases of hospitalisations (1,024), this is due to the sheer number of people visiting, and next in the list is Greece (452). However, as a proportion of the number of visitors, Brits are most likely to be hospitalised in Thailand - 246 cases, an increase of 24% on the previous year.

Medical treatment abroad can be very expensive and to avoid being faced with large bills if taken ill or after having an accident, the Foreign Office is urging people to take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy before they go away this summer. Previous research suggests that 15% of Britons travel abroad uninsured.

An important point to remember is that although the FCO can provide assistance when someone is hospitalised abroad, it won't pick up the cost - that's where your travel insurance comes in.

A recent case of an uninsured man having a motorcycle accident Bali draws attention to how high those costs can be. The man's family are facing bills in excess of £120,000 for medical treatment and a further £110,000 for an air ambulance to fly him home.

The FCO also dealt with 25,969 cases of lost and stolen passports over the last year. Again, the FCO are able to issue emergency documentation, but there is a charge for this, which can be covered by your travel insurance.

Other key findings from the British Behaviour Abroad report include:

Spain continues to be the country where most Britons require assistance (4,971 cases) but when you take visitor and resident numbers into account, you are most likely to need consular assistance in the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan. The Philippines has overtaken Thailand as the country where Brits are proportionally most likely to require consular assistance.

In total Foreign Office staff handled 19,228 serious consular cases last year, that's down 3% on the previous year.

See our infographic for an illustration of the key facts of last year's report - the importance of travel insurance. Look out for an updated version illustrating this year's report.

Digg    Reddit    Facebook    Tweet This