Direct Travel Insurance increases limit on spending money in Greece

Direct Travel Insurance has responded to meet the insurance needs of customers who need to carry more cash when travelling to Greece.

Travellers can carry an increased amount of cash safe in the knowledge it is covered by their insurance until the situation in Greece is resolved.

Travellers who have purchased insurance from Direct Travel Insurance will find that their limit for the amount of money covered in their policies has increased for visits to Greece. This has been implemented automatically and is effective immediately.

Customers should look at the policy they have purchased, but will find that the Personal Money Section Limit has been doubled, to a maximum of £1,000. With budget cover, this now stands at £400, while with standard, premium and premium plus, this has been increased to £1,000.

The Cash Limit, which is the maximum amount paid out for money carried by one person, has now been extended to £250 for those who have purchased budget cover. Meanwhile this has been doubled to £400 for standard cover, £500 for premium cover and increased to a maximum of £600 for premium plus policies.

Cash limits for those under the age of 17 remain unchanged. These new enhanced limits will stay in force for all trips to Greece taken up until the 30th September 2015, allowing holidaymakers to Greece to feel reassured with the additional cover.

Responding to advice

General advice from travel organisations is to take more cash when holidaying in Greece in the event of it becoming difficult to access money from ATMs, banks and exchanges. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) recommends taking more than one type of payment method abroad so holidaymakers should be taking adequate cash along with other types of payment method, such as debit, credit and pre-paid cards.

Since it is official advice to take more cash, it is important that travellers have the peace of mind that it is covered by their insurance company. This is why Direct Travel Insurance has implemented this temporary move to ensure that customers can enjoy their holiday safe in the knowledge that their money is protected.

"We want to make sure that all Direct Travel Insurance customers travelling to Greece, who are planning to take more cash, feel confident it's covered if it were lost or stolen".Mark Allsopp – UK Travel Manager

Taking precautions

Holidaymakers should take care to minimise the risk of money being stolen by distributing it between members of the party and in different locations. Safes at hotels should be used to store the majority of cash until it is needed and visitors should not flaunt the money they have on their person.

It is a good idea to keep small change and a few notes in a purse or wallet for paying for small items, which can be given up if someone attempted to mug them. This helps to safeguard larger sums hidden away elsewhere on the person.

"We encourage customers to consider taking smaller denominations, splitting money between travellers and to take adequate safety precautions by keeping cash and valuables in a safety deposit box to avoid carrying too much around."Mark Allsopp – UK Travel Manager