Travel warning for young Brits

Steve Cleverdon, who broke his neck in Malaysia, has told ITV Daybreak about his experience trying to find a hospital without having insurance. The total bill was £4,000.

Young people, traveling abroad, often assume the NHS or British authorities will help them if they get hurt or injured abroad.

Victoria Bacon from ABTA, has told ITV Daybreak: "If something does go wrong you're going to have to pick up the cost of medical bills yourself."

• A quarter of Brits (24%) are now travel abroad without insurance.
• 4 out of 5 (82%) young people admit to taking part in more adventurous behaviour on holiday - yet fewer than half (45%) check that their insurance covers risky pursuits.

• 16% mistakenly believe that travel insurance is unnecessary as the UK Government will pay for their treatment if they become ill abroad.
• 17% (and a third of 15-24 year olds) wrongly assume that when travelling in Europe, they dont need insurance because they have a European Health Insurance Card.

• Almost half of Brits (47%) mistakenly believe it would cost £5,000 or less to treat a broken leg in the USA despite the actual figure being more than eight times than that.

Source: ABTA and FCO

Young Brits are putting their health and pockets at risk by failing to get adequate holiday insurance or check they are properly covered, according to new research.

ABTA - The Travel Association and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have said a quarter of Brits (24%) are now travel abroad without insurance.

Furthermore, the FCO has also found that 4 out of 5 (82%) young people admit to taking part in more adventurous behaviour on holiday - yet fewer than half (45%) check that their insurance covers risky pursuits.