Relaxing Covid travel restrictions has supported the continuation of strong sales into autumn, says product portfolio director

The Post Office has revealed that its sales of travel insurance have now surpassed pre-Covid levels for the first time since the pandemic began, reflecting growth in this business line because of changes to national lockdown restrictions.

The business sold almost 5% more policies in the three weeks to 7 November 2021 compared with the same period in 2019. This is also a 651% increase compared to the same time frame in 2020.

The Post Office additionally reported that its sales of travel insurance policies grew by 612% in September 2021 and by 560% in October 2021, compared to May this year.

This strong growth follows the ending of the UK’s coronavirus-induced travel restrictions and the introduction of the traffic light system on 17 May 2021 - this has now been scrapped and replaced with a red list, detailing locations that Brits should not travel to.

Ed Dutton, product portfolio director for financial services at Post Office, said: “We are really pleased to see sales of travel insurance returning to pre-pandemic levels, following remarkable growth since the government relaxed restrictions on overseas travel.

“Notably, we saw rising sales later in the summer. Usually, [sales] are falling at this point because growing numbers of people have already enjoyed their summer holiday.

“However, pent-up demand, our highly regarded brand and attractive product features appear to have produced strong upward momentum throughout the summer, with strong sales continuing into autumn.”

Policy sale specifics

Dutton further noted that the Post Office still recommends that people get a travel insurance policy when booking their holiday, to give peace of mind in case of unforeseen events before and during a trip, including contracting Covid-related illnesses.

This financial year, which runs from April 2021, trips to Europe account for around 36% of travel insurance policies sold so far, followed by 35% for the rest of the world and 28% for the UK, according to Post Office figures.

Monday remains the most popular day to buy cover for travel, accounting for just under 17% of policies sold. The least popular day is Saturday, amounting to just over 11%.

The Post Office has over 11,500 branches across the UK.