Airlines adding insurance cost to tickets despite EU ban

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Consumer watchdogs in the UK have reported that airline passengers are automatically being charged for travel insurance by airlines - in breach of a  European Union ban on the practice.

According to the report, easyJet, Jet2.com and Monarch are all adding the insurance fee when customers book online, and that a box has to be un-ticked in order to opt out of the coverage.

Consumers that do not notice the insurance fee end up paying from £7 to £10.49 per passenger.

The automatic addition of extras to airfares was banned by the European Union in November of 2008.

Which? Holiday magazine, formerly published by the Consumers Association, went on to say in its report that the cover offered by easyJet was the only one meeting its minimum criteria for travel insurance. Eleven airlines were checked in the study.

The magazine found that insurance restrictions or exclusions were not made clear to customers at the time of sale, being explained only in the policy’s small print.

Some of these restrictions and exclusions included the single-trip policies of British Airways and Flybe, which covered only passengers under 65 years of age. All airline travel insurance policies have restrictions on pre-existing medical conditions.

Lorna Cowan, who is the editor of Which? Holiday, said: “With airlines still opting people into insurance, consumers could unwittingly buy a product which is of no use to them, and at up to £10 per person this can add up.”

Thanks to news.scotsman.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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