Consumer test: travel insurance

Consumer test: travel insurance

Are you a backpacker about to head off for a round-the-world trip? Or a grown-up gapper taking a sabbatical from work? Then you will need more than an annual insurance policy, which covers travellers for trips lasting only up to 30 days. Follow our guide below to avoid wasting hundreds of pounds on the wrong policy.

Choosing the right type of policy

A single trip policy is usually sold for seven or 14 days but it is possible to buy longer-term ones (see table), stretching to (in our example) a six-week break.

An annual multi-trip policy covers multiple holidays in any one year and is useful for regular travellers. The typical policy sets a maximum of 30 days outside the UK on any one trip. But our research found policies which cover travellers for up to 90 days.

A backpacker policy will cover the traveller for an entire 12 months spent outside the UK. But we found the prices (and the level of cover) vary enormously.

If you are going away for a month or two, an annual policy with a high number of maximum days per trip will work out cheaper than buying a separate single-trip policy for your holiday. For example, the best prices we could find for a 44-year-old man travelling for six weeks were £46-£56. But you can buy an annual multi-trip policy with extended leave for £55-£65. You pay just a few pounds more but you will be covered for any other trips you make during the year.

Preferential.....continued below

Advertisement starts

---

---

Advertisement ends

has an annual multi-trip policy for £54.75 with a maximum trip length of 45 days, while InsureandGo's policy allows 90-day travel for £65.

Check the cover

There are some dirt cheap policies out there but you might find they don't cover very much. Select's worldwide silver policy, for example, does not include cover for personal liability, cancellation or baggage. On the other hand, Endsleigh's globetrotter policy has unlimited medical cover, £2m personal liability cover, £5,000 cancellation cover and £2,000 baggage cover. But its premium is extraordinarily high at £359.37 for a 19-year-old female backpacking for 10 months compared with Select's £157.38.

But you can still find good levels of cover at a budget price. Our best buy is Preferential's Worldtrekker standard policy which costs £130.37 for our 19-year-old backpacker and provides a good level of cover all round.

Travellers should check that their policy offers benefit levels that at least meet the Association of British Insurers' recommendations: cancellation £2,000; travel delay £100; personal accident £15,000; personal liability £1m; medical/repatriation £2m; personal belongings £1,500; personal money £500; and legal expenses £25,000.

The policies Guardian Money looked at varied between providing zero and £2,000 worth of baggage cover, so think carefully about how much your belongings are worth. And don't be fooled by big numbers regarding medical expenses. It is unlikely anyone should need £10m worth of medical expenses; £2m is enough, even in the US.

Check you are covered for your destination(s)