The importance of gap year travel insurance

Tuesday, 23 August 2011 11:19 AM

Your gap year is planned, the destinations decided and the flights booked, but have you sorted out a suitable travel insurance policy?

Although it’s not the most exciting aspect of planning that once-in-a-lifetime year out, having a decent policy in place could potentially save you thousands of pounds in the long run.

But unfortunately picking the right policy is not always straightforward and the cheapest deal may not be the best option.

To ensure you’re sufficiently covered for every eventuality you will have to read the finer details to find out exactly what the insurance company will pay out for in the event of anything going wrong overseas.

Analysis of the gap year travel insurance market by Defaqto has found that 87 per cent of all policies could make you pay several excesses if you need to claim.

For example, if you get mugged you may need to claim for money, baggage and medical expenses, which many companies would consider to be three separate sections, for which three separate charges would apply.

Mike Powell, Defaqto's Insight Analyst for General Insurance, said: “People should focus primarily on the features that different policies provide when shopping around, and ensure their particular needs are met, rather than how much a policy costs - after all, going for the cheapest option could be very expensive if it doesn't provide suitable cover.”

A guide to gap year travel insurance

Travel insurance is one of the most important things you need to remember when planning for your gap year. Travelling is unpredictable, especially if you are going to be away for a long period of time. Although you have to be sensible when travelling you also don’t want to be worrying all the time about things getting stolen, activities you can and can’t do and costs of potential accidents or cancellations, so you need to make sure you’ve got the right insurance policy.