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A dynamic market Fraud Wars: The ins and outs of covering travellers Industry Strikes Back The with pre-existing conditions How goes the battle against the fraudsters?
FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
ESSENTIAL READING FOR TRAVEL & HEALTH INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS
A return to business as usual?
SEPTEMBER 2018 • ISSUE 212
UK insurers shoulder rising medical costs UK travel insurers paid out around £3.9 million a week for the medical treatment of Brits abroad last year – the highest amount for six years According to new research from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), 159,000 British tourists needed medical treatment when abroad last year, with the total costs for travel insurers reaching a total of £201 million. Despite this, one in five Brits say that they travelled overseas last year without travel insurance. The ABI has reminded travellers about the high cost of treatment when away, especially in the US and on cruises, pointing them towards the case where a 15-day stay in a US hospital on a ventilator after a stroke cost around £233,000, while a man who suffered a heart attack on a cruise ship racked up a bill of £202,000 after having to be evacuated by air ambulance. Of the total 510,000 travel insurance claims dealt with last year, the 159,000 involving medical expenses accounted for 52 per cent of claims costs, cancellations accounted for 38 per cent and lost baggage or money for four per cent, according to the ABI. “Falling seriously ill overseas is stressful enough, without the added fear of how to pay for sky high medical bills,” said Charlie Campbell, Senior Policy Adviser, Protection, Health and Travel at the ABI. “Yet unbelievably, an estimated one in five people admit to having travelled overseas without travel insurance, especially when it can cost less than the average family meal while abroad. Should the worst happen, and you need emergency medical treatment, travel insurance can literally be a lifesaver.”
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has forecast seven-per-cent growth in global business travel spend for the rest of 2018, potentially suggesting an end to a period of major uncertainty According to the GBTA BTI Outlook – Annual Global Report & Forecast, global business travel spending grew by 5.8 per cent last year compared with 2016, reaching an overall value of US$1.33 trillion. Should this growth continue, with GBTA’s projected 7.1-percent rise coming to pass, a much-discussed ‘era of
uncertainty’ could be coming to an end. The GBTA believes that should this trajectory hold steady, global business travel will see its strongest two-year period since the 2010 and 2011 recession – and by 2022, overall spend could be worth $1.7 trillion. “This pick-up in growth could signify an end to the ‘Era of Uncertainty’ in global business travel, but rising protectionism is coming at precisely the wrong time,” warned GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick. “The direction of trade policy is far and away the biggest wild card that could impact our forecast for global business,
creating uncertainty that could derail the recovery.” Of the various hurdles that could stand in the way of a return to smoother waters, the GBTA points to the potential for trade wars, with aggressive tariff increases and equally aggressive retaliatory action potentially hitting the global economy hard, and damaging global business travel as a consequence. Analysis from the GBTA suggests that as much as 60 per cent of the variability in global business travel spend can be
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