Millennials forgo travel insurance at their peril

Is your millennial client forgoing travel insurance?

About 43% of Canadian travellers who report not acquiring travel insurance when they leave the country are younger Canadians aged 18 to 34, reveals data from Allianz Global Assistance.

Read: Young clients don’t want to miss out on cottage ownership

For those millennials surveyed who weren’t otherwise protected, almost 16% felt travel insurance was unnecessary, while about 15% thought insurance was too expensive and another 15% felt their trip was too short to warrant insurance.

Internal claims data reviewed by Allianz show that, from 2014 to 2016, people under the age of 30 made nearly 32% of all claims submitted — the highest demographic bracket — while buying only 21% of all Allianz policies.

Of the Canadians surveyed, about 79% had travelled outside Canada in the past five years (2013 to 2017).

“Millennials and other young Canadians make up the majority of […] travellers looking for adventure and more authentic experiences,” says Dan Keon, senior director of market management at Allianz Global Assistance, in a release. “But the off-the-beaten-path travel experiences can also result in increased risks regardless of age.”

Of those who had recently travelled outside Canada, 81.5% report being covered by a travel insurance policy in addition to their provincial health care plan. Canadians heading overseas were somewhat more likely to have insurance coverage.

About the survey: Data was collected from 2,159 Canadians and weighted to the population by age, gender and province of residence.

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