News

UK holidaymakers have lost £839m worth of goods in the last three years.

Furthermore, Brits abroad have faced thefts amounting to £624m with one in ten having good worth over £500 stolen.

Most commonly it is small items that go astray, with 28% of holidaymakers losing clothes, 23% misplacing sunglasses and 20% mislaying cameras.

When possessions are stolen which is much less common than a loss - they tend to be more expensive with over a third of thefts being wallets or money. While travellers are often careful on the street to look out for pickpockets, a quarter of thefts were from hotel rooms.

Chris Price, business manager at Direct Line, which commissioned the survey, said: 'The summer holiday is many people's largest annual purchase but it can be ruined by loss or theft. This can often be made worse by people being unable to replace the items upon their return home because they had not taken out travel insurance.

'We would advise all holidaymakers to protect themselves by taking simple, sensible precautions and by making sure they are insured against any loses in case the worst happens.'

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