Budget Holiday Insurance Warning

This summer’s holidaymakers need to do much more than make sure they’re well protected from the sun. A local legal expert says we also need to check we are well covered by travel insurance before setting off abroad.

Good insurance isn’t just for those on activity holidays – according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office injuries abroad are most likely to be sustained on the roads. Beaches and hotels are also common locations for accidents.

As the peak holiday season gets underway, Personal Injury specialist, Riekje Sefton from Carlisle solicitors Burnetts, is warning sun-seekers not to skimp on their insurance.  She is recommending that travellers check their policies carefully to ensure they have legal expenses insurance to cover legal costs if they are injured in an accident which is not their fault.  Otherwise, she says, they run the risk of being left with big bills if they have an accident abroad.

Riekje who has recently returned from the annual Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL) conference in Antwerp says, “There are a growing number of budget insurance policies which will only cover emergency medical treatment. For instance, if you are knocked down by a car on holiday and seriously injured, there will be lots of other expenses like extra care and loss of income.  If you then have to sue a foreign national, there is no guarantee that your opponent will pay your costs, even if you win your case. Therefore, it’s worth spending a few extra pounds on the insurance and making sure you have got legal expenses cover. ”

Multilingual Riekje Sefton has been a legal executive with Burnetts for over 20 years. She had originally qualified as a doctor in Holland and now specialises in personal injury claims for people with catastrophic injuries including head and spinal. She is a former chair of Headway North Cumbria.

More advice on holiday travel insurance can be found in the Travel Advice section of the F.C.O.’s website at www.fco.gov.uk. Burnetts’ personal injury team can be reached at 01228 552222.

Note to Editor:

The Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL) was founded in 1996 and formally established as a not-for-profit organisation in 1998 by European lawyers to improve and promote judicial co-operation and mutual knowledge of legal and judicial systems of European jurisdictions in the field of personal injury law.

As a member of PEOPIL, Riekje has been able to forge contacts in most other European countries giving clients the benefit of local support in cases of accident abroad. 

27th July 2006