The journey insurance coverage market has a confidence downside. Not a scarcity of it. An extra of it.
Eight out of ten UK journey insurance coverage clients charge themselves as extremely assured about their coverage. That needs to be reassuring. It is not. As a result of after we examined what sits behind that confidence, the image advised a unique story: a market full of people that imagine they perceive their cowl, and do not.
That hole between what clients suppose they’ve purchased and what they’ve really purchased is the topic of our newest analysis. For an business already below regulatory scrutiny, understanding precisely the place that hole sits, and the way large it’s, issues greater than ever.
Our newest report, Misplaced in Translation, explores how UK shoppers purchase journey insurance coverage, what shapes their buying choices, and the place communication breakdowns are creating threat for each clients and insurers.
Journey stays a precedence regardless of monetary stress
The will to journey stays remarkably resilient. Greater than eight in ten shoppers surveyed stated they’re planning a visit inside the subsequent twelve months, regardless of ongoing price of dwelling stress.
On the identical time, many shoppers really feel financially stretched, making a market the place buying choices have gotten extra thought of and worth sensitivity is growing. That pressure issues as a result of journey insurance coverage premiums have additionally risen considerably over the past yr, significantly for single journey insurance policies.
As shoppers spend extra defending their holidays, expectations round readability and worth inevitably enhance alongside it.
Confidence is excessive. Understanding is much less sure.
Probably the most hanging findings from the analysis is the extent of confidence shoppers have of their understanding of journey insurance coverage. Most respondents rated themselves extremely assured in what their coverage consists of.
Nevertheless, deeper questioning revealed a extra difficult image.
Many shoppers seem to depend on assumption somewhat than certainty in terms of understanding areas of canopy, significantly round medical safety and pre-existing circumstances. The report explores how these misunderstandings develop and why they grow to be particularly problematic throughout moments of stress or emergency overseas.
Importantly, the difficulty just isn’t confined to a small minority of shoppers. The findings counsel confusion exists throughout age teams, buying channels, and ranges of journey expertise.
Value comparability websites proceed to form behaviour
Value comparability web sites stay the dominant route to buy for journey insurance coverage clients. In such a aggressive atmosphere, insurers face growing stress to steadiness worth competitiveness with significant communication round cowl.
The analysis suggests shoppers are sometimes making an attempt to reconcile two priorities concurrently. They need reasonably priced cowl, however in addition they need reassurance that the issues they care most about are protected.
That creates a problem for the market as a result of the variations between merchandise should not all the time straightforward for shoppers to determine rapidly, significantly inside comparability environments designed round pace and ease.
The claims journey exposes communication gaps
The report additionally examines what occurs after buy, significantly throughout claims experiences involving a number of organisations throughout the worth chain.
Even the place shoppers described their general consequence positively, many nonetheless reported friction all through the method.
The findings increase wider questions on how clearly tasks are communicated throughout claims dealing with and whether or not shoppers absolutely perceive who’s managing totally different levels of help when they’re abroad.
For an business constructed on reassurance, these moments carry important reputational weight.
Regulation is growing the stress on buyer understanding
The findings arrive at a time of rising regulatory consideration on journey insurance coverage buyer outcomes.
The FCA’s response to the Which? super-complaint highlighted issues round claims dealing with, outsourced providers, and buyer expertise throughout the broader journey insurance coverage ecosystem.
Curiously, most of the frustrations recognized by regulators had been additionally mirrored independently in client suggestions gathered for this analysis, significantly round coverage wording, readability, and the general complexity of the expertise.
Why this issues now
The central theme rising from the report just isn’t merely about product design or claims dealing with. It’s about communication.
As premiums rise, merchandise diversify, and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, the power to speak cowl clearly could grow to be more and more necessary in shaping buyer belief and long-term market confidence.
The complete Misplaced in Translation report explores:
- how journey insurance coverage shopping for behaviour is evolving
- the place misunderstanding round cowl is most acute
- why claims friction persists even in optimistic experiences
- how shoppers view standardisation and minimal cowl expectations
- the rising regulatory deal with buyer outcomes
The findings had been offered by Shopper Intelligence CEO Ian Hughes at ITIC UK in Brighton in April 2026.