Travel policies fail children

Research firm Defaqto has warned that many “family” annual travel insurance policies do not cover children or step children that do not live with the insured parent or if the children travel unaccompanied.

Its survey of 423 annual travel insurance policies found:

• Are dependant children who are not normally resident with the main policyholder covered? Yes 72.1% No 27.9%
• Are step children who live with the main policyholder covered? Yes 99.5% No 0.5%
• Are step children who do not live with the main policyholder covered? Yes 72.1% No 27.9%
• Are children who travel independently covered? Yes 51.5% No 48.5%

Brian Brown, head of research at Defaqto, said: "Many travel insurers will insure your children and step-children as long as they live with you. But if you take children on holiday with you and they normally live with an ex-partner they might not be covered. Insurers only consider them as family if they permanently live at your address."

"It's imperative that parents check the detail of their travel insurance policies to ensure that they have the cover they need before travelling. In particular, couples who are not married, or have children from a previous relationship need to make sure that children are covered when travelling with them."