Emergency Medical Claims Dominate in 2024, Surpassing Trip Cancellations

  • Emergency medical claims dominate in 2024, exceeding travel cancellations – Unspash+ image credit

In 2024, the cost of trips increased significantly, which led to an 18% increase in travel insurance claims of the previous year. This coincided with a 37% increase in payment amounts, increasing from an average of $ 1,900 to $ 2,609.

Squaremouth.com, a travel insurance market, has reported on the most common benefits of claims and travel insurance with annual annual refund payments.

Emergency medical claims were the most common and the highest for the first time in more than a decade, which represents 27% of all claims paid. The average payments of these claims increased by 14%, from $ 1,456 to $ 1,654.

Claims related to travel cancellations represented more than 40% of all paid claims. This included claims within the cancellation of travel, the interruption of the trip and the cancellation for any category of reason.

Despite the 2024 promise of the Department of Transportation to support travelers affected by flight delays and cancellations, travel insurance remained a crucial resource for travelers. The number of claims paid for travel delays increased by 15% in 2024, with the average payments that increased by 8% compared to 2023.

The following is the challenge of claims for benefit in 2024:

Type of claim for benefit

% claims

Avg. Affirm

The highest claim

Emergency doctor

27 %

$ 1,654

$ 61,976

Travel cancellation

26 %

$ 1,456

$ 50,102

Travel delay

15 %

$ 370

$ 2,655

Travel interruption

11 %

$ 2,631

$ 30,968

Lost connection

10 %

$ 395

$ 2,500

Cancel for any reason

6 %

$ 2,092

$ 18,375

Loss of luggage

4 %

$ 174

$ 1,000

Luggage delay

4 %

$ 210

$ 600

Medical evacuation

<1%

$ 17,086

$ 33,640

Damage to car rental

<1%

$ 1,209

$ 1,987

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