Research from Sainsbury's Bank Travel Insurance has revealed that 2.61 million people from the UK will travel abroad without insurance this summer.
The research discovered that on average, people intend to spend around GBP1,604 on booking their main summer holiday this year, and take belongings worth GBP790 with them, yet 8% of people will not take any travel insurance to cover this.
The bank claims its findings show that as much of GBP4.19 billion worth of holidays and GBP2.07 billion of possessions that people intend to take with them will not be covered.
The research also identified that 6.36 million people intend to spend more than GBP2,000 on their summer holiday this year, but over 146,000 of them will not have travel insurance.
The bank also said that regionally London has the biggest spenders on summer holidays, and the worst offenders for not having travel insurance will be holidaymakers in the southeast.
It’s also important to remember that the new government EHIC form like the E111 before it is not an insurance policy. It provides emergency medical care only, which in some destinations may be very limited, said Robert O’May, travel insurance manager at Sainsbury’s Bank.