The Issues With Backpackers Travel Insurance
Posted on | November 30, 2009 | 9 Comments
Unfortunately, many backpackers travel insurance policies often fail to cover the activities that backpackers enjoy. Backpacking and many popular backpacking destinations may offer travel and adventure, but not if you are relying on a basic insurance policy for medical care or replacement of belongings.
Standard travel policies effectively place limits on the activities you can take part in, as well as the places you can go. Before heading off for an international backpacking trek, it is necessary to explore the types of travel insurance available and to find a policy that meets your specific needs.
Standard insurance policies exclude anything that has the potential to cause a claim. Backpacking, as well as certain other sports and activities, automatically places people at risk of illness and injury because it involves leaving the paved roads and vacation resorts. Backpacking in wilderness areas and mountain trails, as well as overnight accommodations in cheap hotels and backpackers hostels raises a lot of safety issues.
Insurers also consider people who participate in those activities more likely to be assaulted or robbed. A backpacker’s travel insurance policy is issued with an understanding of the risks involved, and offers more coverage than a standard travel policy.
The travels of a backpacker are not like those of others on vacation, and a backpacker’s insurance must meet their individual needs. Backpackers travel insurance must cover a diverse range of countries, as well as the remote areas that standard policies usually fail to cover.
Natural disasters can have a seriously negative impact on backpacking vacations, as well as the health and belongings of backpackers, so policies must cover those events, even if it is with certain restrictions. In addition to all of these, backpacker policies also often offer the option of extending the policy, or changing the area covered by the policy, while traveling.
A common rite of passage for students leaving college is embarking on a multinational backpacking tour. It is a cheap way to see other countries, interact with the people and learn about the culture. It also offers the opportunity to find yourself, figuring out who you are and what you want to do with your life.
However, for many, backpackers travel insurance does not provide coverage for destinations and vacations that the backpacker wants to experience. This can leave you stranded, without assistance or replacement of goods in the event of an emergency. Taking the time to explore your options before you leave, however, will help ensure that your policy covers what you need, wherever you go and no matter what happens along the way.
Related posts:
- Annual Travel Insurance Vs Single Trip Travel Insurance: Which Is Better?
- Cheap Travel Insurance Is Better Than No Travel Insurance Coverage
- Annual Travel Insurance Deciphered
- 5 Ways to Deal Travel Insurance
- MAKE YOUR TRAVEL WORRY FREE WITH TRAVEL INSURANCE
- Travel Insurance and Extreme Sports
- Types of Travel Insurance
- The Advantages To The Regular Traveller Of An Annual Travel Insurance Policy
- Gap Year Travel Insurance Help!
- Travel Insurance
Comments
9 Responses to “The Issues With Backpackers Travel Insurance”
Leave a Reply
November 30th, 2009 @ 11:16 am
Try this site for a quick quote on travel medical insurance. TravelEx allows for pre-existing conditions. —> http://www.travelex-insurance.com/index.asp?location=07-0018
November 30th, 2009 @ 11:34 am
I think that you will find a great deal on Moneysupermarket.com thats where I got my travel insurance, and they actually had to pay out on my policy as I ended up in a French hospital.
My insurance was about 40pounds, and it was for annual insurance! I think from memory you could go away for up to 94 days at a time, or 17days at a time if you included winter sports.
Hope this helps – just remember to read the small print about how many consecutive days away from the UK you are covered for! Happy Travels!
November 30th, 2009 @ 11:46 am
There are some good travel insurance companies. Get ones that pay your expenses or pay you in cash. Dont get ones that make you take another trip or give you a voucher to travel again with them.
I only buy insurance if the trip is WAY more than I can afford to lose.
Read the fine print of the policies before you purchase.
November 30th, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
It could very well be true. Although they are different countries to where you are, we are in the UK and when we book to go to Ireland the company we book with insists on having our insurance details. Besides, as the first answerer says…they would be daft to travel without it as the cost of treatment is far more than the cost of the insurance. Accidents do happen…believe me, I broke an elbow last year, and a few weeks after that was healed I broke my foot…if I had been abroad I would have been in sh*t street without insurance!
November 30th, 2009 @ 3:51 pm
healthquotes.awardspace.info – here is my health insurance plan. As I remember they can provide such a service.
December 1st, 2009 @ 5:01 am
December 2nd, 2009 @ 11:44 am
You can get a refund if your insurance covers illness as a reason for cancellation. Different policies cover different contingencies. The way you would prove illness is by a note from your physician.
InsureMyTrip.com is one site that has comparisons among policies. I'm sure there are others.
December 2nd, 2009 @ 10:39 pm
Here are some links-
I had a similar situation- I was living in the Caymans Islands, no longer a Canadian resident, and wanted to travel for the summer. But every policy required that Canadian citizens be insured in their home privince, which I no longer have as non-resident. IMG was the only one I found, but as you DO have Canadian insurance, this will be easy for you. There are lots of short-term plans.
https://www.imglobal.com/travelinsurance/index.cfm?show=&&CFID=1718830&CFTOKEN=d9392e2d0226f2d2-EC75C061-1143-EBE5-76B31862584AA777
http://www.internationalsos.com,
http://www.travelexinsurance.com,
http://www.ijet.com,
http://www.travelassistance.com,
http://www.wallach.com,
http://www.travelguard.com,
http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=48&category=8,
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/insurance.htm.
December 3rd, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Checkout their theft rider, and the link for a free quote. http://www.travelex-insurance.com/index.asp?location=07-0018