However, the insurer has discovered that, worryingly, the ongoing economic difficulty and consumer belt-tightening has led 31% of would-be travellers to state they intend to skip taking out travel insurance or were considering going without it.

Sixty-two percent of travellers have said they intend to set careful limits on daily spending, with over 40% not spending anything on holiday clothes or going self-catering.

Aviva’s travel product manager, Jerry Finch, has explained that a combination of prolonged bad weather and economic difficulty means that many want to fly off somewhere hot, but are less enamoured with the costs involved, including insurance.

Finch warned that insurance is critical as a shield against a hefty financial hit, and pointed out that the EHIC is no substitute for proper travel insurance within Europe.

Yesterday Direct Travel Insurance called on football fans heading off to South Africa for the World Cup to make sure they travelled with insurance, and to take it out as early as possible to ensure cancellation coverage was in place.

Travellers are advised to take out coverage as soon as possible, enabling them to have cancellation coverage in place earlier.

Last year those who had to cancel or break off a holiday in South Africa claimed an average of £1,591, leaving those without coverage exposed to a hefty financial hit.

Travellers are also urged to make sure their insurer knows their medical history, particularly as the biggest pay-out last year for medical needs exceeded £27,000.

Consumer Marketing VP Paul Thilo has stated that the cost of insurance is minor compared to the cost of stolen property or medical costs, adding that those going to the World Cup should not view insurance as an optional extra.

The advice backs up that offered by the firm in the recent past, when the recession meant that some were exposing themselves to potentially huge financial burdens by travelling without travel insurance.

The underwriting agency, which is backed by Bridges Ventures and Magenta Partners, will focus on niche personal lines offerings for both wholesale and retail customers.

The firm has set out with a suite of car hire excess products available through brokers and affinity partners under the Halo Insurance brand, and online at iCarhireinsurance.com.

Prices start at £2.99 for daily policies, which according to Halo compares with up to £9.99 per day charged by some car rental companies. Annual cover is available from £39.99.

The products can be used with car rental agreements worldwide and cover extends to the roof, tyres, windows and undercarriage of hired vehicles.

A selection of add-ons are available, including personal accident, personal effects, vehicle rental cancellation, additional policyholder and vehicle key replacement.

Halo’s founder and chief executive officer, Ernesto Suarez, says: “Many people … end up spending a fortune at car rental desks, or find themselves with a huge excess bill at the end of the holiday after a small chip to their windscreen.”

He adds: “In fact, with many policies not covering the most vulnerable parts of the car, you could easily get hit with both!”

In January, insurance4carrental.com launched a worldwide offering with policies available from insurance4carhire.com and Questor.

Allianz Protect claims to be a first in this area of protection, combining as it does the secure storage of electronic documents with Mondial’s emergency services.

The safe deposit system is accessible from www.airfrance.com and allows customers to archive, consult and retrieve personal and professional electronic documents from any location with Internet access.

It is available in four languages twenty-four hours a day, and provides access for an authorised designated person, enabling Mondial Assistance to help remotely if necessary.

Two packages have been designed by Allianz for the airline: Protec’fly – offering storage up to five gigabytes of data; Protec’fly Premium – offering unlimited capacity.

According to the financial failure specialist, which operates the protectmyholiday.com brand, they are therefore risking large penalties for acting outside consumer law.

The firm explains that under the current rules, a booking can become a packaged trip, even when it involves just an overnight stay.

For example a hotel that is offering a room plus theatre or concert ticket deal is offering a package and therefore needs to comply with the Package Travel Regulations.

IPP underwriter, Michelle Irvine, says: “To comply … the organiser needs to provide security against their own financial failure for payments up to the completion of each packaged trip.”

She adds: “Companies may not realise that they are doing anything wrong but they face severe penalties if caught acting outside of the legislation, so they should look at their product range and speak to an expert to see if parts fall within the Regulation.”

In related news, IPP says it has just negotiated an exclusive contract, with major international insurers, to provide cover to comply with the legislation, with the added benefit of a minimal amount of administration.

Lack of insurance will leave couples exposed to a financial hit if they should suffer an accident, detracting from a holiday intended to be romantic.

This time last year, the average claim for an accident was £399, and £752 was the average claim for a cancellation.

Back injuries cost around £188, with stolen or damaged clothes costing £291.

Consumer Marketing VP Paul Thilo advised consumers to treat travel insurance as part of the general cost of going on holiday, adding that the cost of insurance was very small when weighed against the potential financial burden of accidents or other claim-worthy incidents.

The advice echoes that which the firm offered last year, when it urged consumers not to let the financial belt-tightening of the recession mean skimping on travel insurance.

The mutual has developed a dedicated home, motor and travel insurance offering, promising a more personal approach and flexible cover.

Private Clients Insurance provides immediate cover on newly purchased items, a 24-hour customer call centre based in the UK and an advice service for valuing property.

It also extends to profession-specific items, such as medical equipment, as well as automatic contents cover for children studying away from home and world-wide contents cover.

Customers have the opportunity to bring all their insurance needs into one portfolio with a single renewal date and method of payment, and every policyholder is blessed with a dedicated client manger to ensure their exact needs are met.

The service been designed after research among Wesleyan’s core professional client groups – primarily doctors, dentists, lawyers and teachers.

The group’s director of general insurance, Andrew D’Arcy, comments: “The feedback from our professional clients is that they have extremely busy lives and they need flexible, convenient insurance cover.”

He adds: “Private Clients Insurance has been set up to meet this need with features such as an option for customers to delegate authority to a named individual who can talk with us on their behalf.”

Last year, Wesleyan was a finalist in the Grant Thornton Mid-Cap Business of the Year award at the National Business Awards and also won Best Use of IT in Insurance at the Financial Sector Technology Awards.

The Bill aims to put an end to age discrimination in England and Wales while at the same time allowing employers to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority job applicants.

However, it includes powers to make exceptions, so that beneficial and justifiable age-based practices can be allowed to continue.

Therefore, prices can still be varied by age, if the variation genuinely reflects risk or costs and is not an “arbitrary decision”.

When the Bill was introduced in 2008, insurers pointed out that it could be harmful to both the industry and consumers, if poorly implemented.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) agreed with the reforms in principle but warned that competition could suffer because some insurers may choose to withdraw certain products, such as car and travel policies.

Responding to the latest announcement, the ABI’s acting director general, Maggie Craig, said: “The insurance industry is committed to providing competitive insurance for people of all ages … however, we recognise that some older people may experience difficulty finding the motor and travel insurance policies that are available to them.”

She added: “We are developing a signposting solution that will direct older people to those insurers who can meet their insurance needs.”

The advocacy group recorded a 41% rise in sales of its Enterprises annual worldwide travel insurance in 2009, while sales of winter sports cover increased by 20%.

The charity therefore concludes that the UK’s pensioners are keeping more active and are keener to take off for long-haul destinations, possibly more than once a year.

Age Concern also recently reported that consumer power among the older generation has seen a resurgence recently, with the “grey pound” now worth up to £100 billion annually.

With this in mind, a travel boom is expected as more mature people look to explore far flung destinations.

Age Concern Insurance Services provides cover for the over 60s‚ over 70s‚ over 75s and over 80s.

The firm says there is no upper age limit for applicants and its policies cover pre-existing medical conditions wherever possible.

Research by More Than Insurance found over half a million Brits have gone skiing the morning after a drinking session with seven units of alcohol still pumping through their body.

Nearly three quarters (74%) of British skiers polled by More Than believed a heavy night of drinking does not affect their skiing the next day.

More Than, however, claims skiing when drunk should be “severely frowned upon”.

“With the average intermediate level skier travelling at up to 20mph on unimpeded runs, the threat of serious accidents is very real indeed,” More Than said.

“The findings of the research are extremely concerning – nearly 600,000 Brits will ski or board drunk at some stage this ski season which is not a small number,” it added.

“Brits abroad have a reputation for drinking to excess but throw a high-speed downhill sport into the mix and you have a very nasty combination.”