Specific backpacker travel insurance as well as single-trip
Great value travel insurance for Europe and long-haul
Great for families or single trips
Do you really need travel insurance?
However lucky you think you are, or short of cash you may be, you should always consider taking out adequate travel insurance cover for your trip or holiday.
Don't leave it to the last moment - get your insurance early to get cancellation cover
You may not be taking much in the way of valuables, but what happens if your passport gets stolen, or you are involved in a car crash caused by a crazy foreign minibus driver? You don't want to pay for all your medical treatment or flight home. It always pays off to get travel insurance.
Get a free travel insurance quote online.
In this section you can see what to look for when buying travel insurance as well as check our travel insurance comparison charts from different insurance companies, especially useful for backpackers looking for gap year travel insurance. We've done the work so you don't have to.
What to look for in a travel insurance policy
Here are the main points to look for in a good policy:
Cancellation cover
This is one of the most claimed against parts of a trip. Make sure it covers you for the cost of your flights and any land arrangements. Remember to take into account the cancellation conditions of your flight ticket. Most round the world tickets are 25% non-refundable whereas special offer return flights could be up to 100% non-refundable.
Medical and Emergency Expenses
24 hour phone help plus repatriation is essential.
Hospital Benefit
Hospital bills can mount up quickly in some countries.
Luggage and personal belongings
Look for loss and damage, including loss of personal money. Check limit for each item (Usually around £200).
Loss of Passport
Most insurance companies will reimburse costs related to getting to embassies for renewing a passport.
Delayed Luggage
Check how long you need to wait before you can make a claim.
Delayed Departure
Again, check how many hours or days you have to allow before claiming.
Adventurous Activities
Which ones are included and how much is the excess?
International Medical Rescue and Repatriation
This really is an important part of any travel insurance policy.
You must check right at the start if the travel insurance cover you are thinking of getting will include repatriation.
What is repatriation?
Repatriation is when you are flown back home in an emergency.
People generally want to know where they will fly to if they have different passports. The general rule of thumb is that it is not up to you where they fly you to. It is dependent on where you can get the best medical treatment and also which is the cheapest option.
For example, if you hold a UK and New Zealand passport and you fell ill in Europe you would probably be flown back to the UK. If you injured yourself in Australia then they would probably fly you onto NZ.