Martin Lewis issues warning to anyone going on holiday with friends or family
Martin Lewis has issued a warning to anyone planning a group holiday, whether with friends or family. The MoneySavingExpert founder shared the alert during a recent episode of ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show. He uploaded a clip from the episode to his TikTok account, with the caption: "Think carefully before buying solo travel insurance if you're travelling with a group."His warning centres on securing the right kind of travel insurance — not only as soon as a trip is booked, but also ensuring the correct type is chosen should something go wrong within the group. Lewis urges people to exercise caution when taking out solo travel insurance for group trips.He warns that it typically fails to cover cancellations when one person's misfortune forces the entire group to pull out.He recommends taking out a shared or comprehensive group policy so that if one member of the party cannot travel, everybody remains protected. He also advises purchasing insurance "ASAB" (As Soon As You Book).Should a solo traveller be forced to cancel due to a personal emergency, their individual policy will not cover the losses incurred by friends or family who are subsequently unable to travel.Opting for a single group policy ensures that if one person's emergency results in the whole trip being cancelled, every member of the party is covered.Regardless of which policy you opt for, Lewis urges people to purchase insurance immediately after booking, in order to safeguard against cancellations before departure.If you are buying insurance separately, ensure the policy caters to the specific requirements of a group holiday, should someone else's circumstances affect your trip.During The Martin Lewis Money Show, viewer David shared his personal experience with travel insurance for a group holiday. He said: "I booked flights to Australia for a family group of seven to travel in March next year. I took out insurance immediately."One of our group is now pregnant and can't travel on the dates planned. It costs £5,000 to reschedule, which I'm happy to report the insurance covered.""But, if there's a large group of friends going, you often all get independent travel insurance. Well, then if one can't go or and you can't all go on the trip, it's only the person who's got that cover. So, you'd need a group insurance policy so that if one can't go, you all can't go."
