Your MONEY: P&O Takes Plunge into Insurance Market

FERRY operator P&O is to offer travel insurance and motor breakdown cover for its eight million passengers.

Policies will be offered over the phone, online and at ports.

The cover - arranged via specialist insurer Acumus - starts at pounds 4 for a single trip. Richard Mason of insuresupermarket.com said: "The rates are competitive and the cover offered is imaginative.

"However, the litmus test is whether older travellers or those with existing medical conditions can also get cheap cover. I would always recommend comparing rates." The travel insurance includes cover for camping equipment, gift purchases and vet and boarding fees for pets.

The European motor breakdown includes emergency roadside repairs, vehicle repatriation, accommodation, car hire and alternative travel arrangements.

Without the cover - which costs from pounds 9 at P&O - getting a car back home is expensive.

Repatriating a vehicle from Malaga to Leeds, for instance, would cost pounds 1,514.

But before buying, check your existing car insurance. Some policies offer breakdown cover as a free extra, while others may allow you to add cover for a small supplement.

You can compare the cost of travel insurance online at www.moneysupermarket.com or www.confused.com.

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