Australia is the one-way ticket of choice – a look at who is buying our First Class emigration policies and where they are going

We thought that it would be a useful and interesting exercise to take a closer look at exactly who is buying our specialist First Class emigration policies that provide comprehensive travel insurance for those leaving the UK.  We have looked back at policies that have been purchased for one-way travel in the last quarter of the year. It threw up some unexpected trends and may be indicative of a more widespread picture of those who choose to leave the UK either to emigrate to a new country or to return to their country of origin.  Here’s the breakdown:

Where are people going to?

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority (74%) of our one-way clients are venturing to Australia.  It is a country that has a healthy economy, an enviable lifestyle and of course a climate and outdoor lifestyle that is often in stark contrast to the UK!  Other destinations lag a long way behind, led by Australia’s neighbour New Zealand (7%), Canada (5%), and tied at the bottom are Singapore, Europe, the USA and Japan on 2%.  Perhaps surprisingly, the people that were emigrating to European countries were not heading for the traditional emigration hotspots of France or Spain, but the more unusual Hungary and Sweden.

Some people specified whereabouts in Australia that they were going to be based and the most popular places were Perth and Brisbane jointly, followed by Melbourne and Sydney. Other destinations that were named were Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, Geelong and Tasmania. Destinations that were cited in Canada included Calgary and Toronto and Christchurch was given in New Zealand.

Where are people leaving from?

All of our clients must be leaving from the UK (and must have been resident in the UK for at least 6 months out of the last 12).  We looked at the UK address provided by our clients to try and pinpoint any clusters.  Interestingly, 33% of our clients are leaving from an address located in Scotland, with 18% coming from Glasgow and the remaining 15% coming from other Scottish towns and cities.   This is significant because only 8.4% of the population of the UK lives in Scotland.  So why the apparent Scottish mini-exodus?

Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city and suffers from more than its fair share of problems relating to unemployment and social problems.  In recent figures from the Department of Work and Pensions, it was revealed that 85% of working age adults in Bridgeton a deprived area of Glasgow are claiming some kind of welfare payment.   In addition to this, seven of the top ten areas in the DWP’s list of locations with the most welfare claimants were in Scotland, four in Glasgow.  Could it be these factors that are encouraging people to leave Glasgow and seek their fortune in pastures new?  An alternative explanation is the presence of oil rigs located near to the Scottish coastline, and that workers in this field could be tempted to relocate to similar jobs in Australia.

Other locations that people were leaving from were:

The West Country 21%

Kent 12%

The Nottingham area 9%

Yorkshire 9%

Wales 6%

Surrey 6%

London 1%

Who are people leaving with?

Another thing that we looked at is whether people were travelling as an individual, with a partner or as a family.  Are people leaving independently to start a new solo life abroad?  Are they travelling with their partner to start a new life together?  Are families with children of a variety of ages relocating for a new life in a new country?

Our figures show that most people (43%) are leaving individually (although this may be inflated, as sometimes people travel on their own before being joined by the rest of their family at a later date),  32% travel as a family and 25% travel as a couple.  It seems that people are making the momentous decision to ‘up sticks’ and build a life in a new country at all stages of life, and that people in a variety of situations realise that they need one-way travel insurance to protect them as they travel!

Is it men or women?

Unsurprisingly perhaps, there was a pretty even gender split with 52% of lead travellers being female and 48% male.  Women are obviously just as keen to strike out anew as their male counterparts.

What age are the people who are travelling?

We looked at the age of the traveller who had taken out the policy to correlate our figures.  Sharing the joint lead (38%) were people in their 20’s and 30’s, followed by people in their 40’s (18%) and those in their 50’s, 60’s and teens bringing up the rear on 1.8%.  There could be a number of reasons for these figures:

• Older people with established careers and families may be settled and unmotivated to start a new life elsewhere
• Younger people would score extra points in the Australian points system to obtain a visa
• Younger people that are economically active may be looking for better job prospects abroad

How long are people being insured for?

One-way travellers that invest in one of Go Walkabout’s First Choice policies have the choice of being insured for a choice of 5, 17 or 21 days.  The duration of time that they are insured for starts when the traveller leaves the UK and continues beyond reaching their final destination, until the day limit is up.  This allows emigrants to have the necessary contents and health insurance in place while they make longer-term arrangements.

After crunching the numbers it transpires that the majority (56% ) opt for 21 days (the maximum available), followed by 5 days (24%) and 17 days (20%).  This points to the fact that a significant amount of people are willing to pay a little extra for their premium so that they are covered for longer whilst they are settling in.  In response to this demand, longer durations of cover are available online at One Way Insurance.

We found this data analysis offered us an invaluable glimpse at the type of person who buys our one-way insurance cover and offered some insights into how our service benefits people in a variety of situations. However, as a company who prides ourselves on personalised customer care, we remember that each customer is unique and are always happy to offer travel insurance assistance to those emigrating.

** Update** We now offer specific One-Way policies called the Emigration Silver and Gold policies, take a look at the details here