Kellys in their 60s most likely to claim

INSURANCE CLAIMS:IF YOUR name is John or Mary Kelly and you're in your early 60s you might want to avoid going on holiday towards the end of next August as, statistically speaking, this will be the time you are most likely to make a claim on your travel insurance.

According to an unusual survey released this week by online insurance broker getcover.ie and based on two years of travel insurance claims from its customers in Ireland and the UK, people called John and Mary Kelly are the most frequent claimants. The most common age for making a claim is 62 and the date most people have found themselves getting into trouble is August 20th.

The getcover.ie “Claims Index” looked at claims in Ireland and the UK from January 2008 to August 2010 and it reports that the most frequent cause of a claim is medical expenses.

The survey found that cancellation was the second most common reason for making a travel insurance claim and that people were most likely to have a claim on the third day of their holiday.

The average cost of a medical claim was €633 while the average cost paid out for a holiday cancellation was €519. The average claim made as a result of the curtailment of a holiday for reasons including family bereavement was €453 while people claimed back €120 for missed departures.

One of the smallest averages paid out was for people who lost personal effects with the average in this category just €74. It also highlighted a significant gender imbalance, with 55 per cent of claimants being women.

“Obviously some elements of this index are a bit tongue-in-cheek – and we hope the John and Mary Kellys of Ireland don’t take offence,” says Fiona Butler of getcover.ie. “Insurance of any sort is sometimes a difficult cost to rationalise because the hope is that you will never need to claim on a policy and it is for this reason we believe that people will learn about the incidents where having a travel insurance policy is vital,” she says.