Travel insurers have been spending ?¨o5.3 million a week helping Britons who fall ill abroad.
According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the cost of becoming ill overseas hit a record high last year, with medical expenses claims having leapt by over 270%, compared with five years ago.
In all 366,000 claims were settled by insurers, amounting to 7,000 instances a week, the total having risen threefold because 2004.
Therapy costs accounted for 60% of pay-outs, compared with 33% five years ago, with stomach upsets, ear infections, allergies and heart problem the most frequent ailments.
Claims dealt with by insurers included ?¨o49,000 to cover the expense of a coronary artery bypass and emergency flight household for a holidaymaker taken ill in the USA, and ?¨o16,500 for back injuries suffered separately by a husband and wife when on the same vacation.
The ABIs director of general insurance and health, Nick Starling, says: The typically high costs of overseas medical therapy make travel insurance essential for everyone travelling abroad.
Adding: All travellers must make sure that they take particulars of emergency medical helpline telephone numbers included in their travel policy to call for guidance and assist need to they fall ill.
Separately, the Foreign Workplace estimates that 1 in five Britons are still journeying overseas with out travel insurance.