Forty per cent of British families planning a ‘Playcation’ this summer
Almost four out of ten British families are planning an organised activity based holiday this year in an attempt to get their children to be more active and try new sports, according to a survey of over 3,000 families by Gocompare.com. However, with the ‘playcation’ set to be this year’s biggest new holiday trend, parents are being warned to take more care than ever over their travel insurance.
Almost two thirds of people surveyed admit they never check their insurance policy to see if they are covered for activities – leaving their finances at risk. A medical emergency abroad can be extremely expensive and without travel insurance you could be responsible for the costs incurred.
Standard policies often exclude activities that are considered ‘adventurous’ or ‘hazardous’, such as horse riding, jet skiing, diving or climbing. Those planning to participate in such activities should always check the policy terms and conditions, or speak to their insurer, to clarify exactly which activities are covered.
According to the Gocompare.com ‘playcation’ survey, the most popular activities this year are expected to be:
Activity
Swimming 52%
Walking 43%
Cycling 22%
Horse riding 19%
Canoeing 17%
Assault courses 16%
Diving/snorkelling 15%
Climbing 13%
Racket sports 13%
Sailing 11%
Archery/shooting 9%
In the majority of cases (56 per cent), this year’s ‘playcations’ will be the main family holiday, while 44 per cent said it would be a second holiday. A quarter of parents said that the main motivation behind an activity holiday was to try and get the kids to be more active, while close to a third hoped it would encourage their children to try new sports.
Mark Greening, head of partner products at Gocompare.com said, “It is great that so many families are planning activity or adventure based holidays this year. But this type of holiday requires more thought than a traditional beach holiday - trying a new activity or sport will lead to more accidents or injuries than simply lying on a sun-lounger. So make sure that you book with a reputable holiday company, with qualified instructors and guides and, that any equipment you will be using is safety-checked.
“Also, parents need to be just as active when choosing their travel insurance as a lot of policies will restrict cover for sports or more adventurous activities while on holiday. They need to shoparound and compare policy wordings carefully as insurers vary greatly in how they cover different activities. Most will list activities and explain the terms on which cover will be provided. Some will require additional premiums or restrict cover unless you inform them of exactly what you intend to do.”
-ends-
For further information please contact:
Lynsey Walden or Anders Nilsson at Gocompare.com on 01633 654 055 / 01633 657 599
Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on 01603 505 845
Notes to Editors:
Research commissioned by Gocompare.com - carried out with 3000 UK families in May 2010 by OnePoll Research.
Gocompare.com launched in November 2006. It was founded by Hayley Parsons, who has worked her entire career in the insurance broking and aggregator markets, and was the first comparison sites to focus on displaying product features rather than just listing prices. It was this philosophy that led to Gocompare.com becoming the first price comparison site to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers Association (Biba) in May 2008 and helped force older comparison sites to change their ‘quick quote’ ways and stop using assumptions to calculate estimated figures.
Today, Gocompare.com provides one of the most comprehensive online car insurance comparison services in the UK as well as comparing home, motorbike, van, pet insurance and breakdown cover.
Gocompare.com is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.