Shocking results have been revealed by a new study undertaken by leading law firm Simpson Millar that show that over half of the holidaymakers that they spoke to go on holiday without travel insurance.

Retired Britons who worked hard all their lives might claim that younger generations don’t know what hard work really is, but as a population we have never worked so hard. Currently the average working week in the UK is approximately 44 hours, with many of us exceeding this number and working closer to 50 hour weeks, far more than the European average of just over 40 hours a week. British government guidelines for holiday entitlement state that we’re entitled to 5.6 weeks off per year, including Bank Holidays, making it important to ensure that we make the most of our time off.

While some of us might use our leisure time to unwind at home and catch up on some much needed rest, many hard working Brits would rather invest their well-earned money into a break abroad and escape somewhere that emails and phone calls from the office won’t be a concern. While you might be happy to invest sizeable amount of your income into a much needed foreign getaway, research shows that travel insurance might be at the bottom of your holiday checklist.

A new study that included a survey of 1,000 adults was carried out by national law firm Simpson Millar, which had some startling results, with a large proportion of people indicating that they were willing to risk a holiday disaster by not taking out travel insurance.

The study showed that 56% of all people asked were willing to run the risk of holidaying without travel insurance, and this percentage rose to 74% for those between 18 and 24. The stereotype of parents being safe and responsible individuals was bolstered by the results, which showed that parents are more likely to take out travel insurance than non-parents, and that women are more like to take have insurance than men.

If you’ve ever been in a position where you’ve had to make use of your travel insurance, you might find these results to be quite surprising. The additional protection that you get from a decent travel insurance policy can mean the difference between a great holiday that hit a minor speed bump, and being that person who can tell the tale of that disastrous trip you once had abroad.

Commenting on the findings, Paul Stevens; the Group Travel Litigation Claims Manager at Simpson Millar had the following to say:

“Although all travel insurance policies differ by covering certain aspects of your break abroad and how much cover is afforded, most policies will include emergency medical expenses, lost or stolen bags, personal liability cover as well as covering the costs of cancelling, delaying or cutting short your holiday. With the average cost of travel insurance being less than around £50.00 or so, it seems strange that people aren’t willing to pay for the security of knowing that they are financially secure, should the worse happen.”

Paul Stevens continued “With the average cost of medical treatment abroad being just over £2,000 and an emergency flight from the US to the UK costing up to £50,000, if people don’t take out insurance, it could make that expensive holiday cost far more than they ever thought possible.”