When Extreme Travel Beckons Get Insured

Written by Editorial Team

21 June 2007

Getting proper travel cover is a must for gap-year students embarking on adventurous holidays, moneysupermarket.com has advised.

Securing your goods properly can be difficult when travelling with a backpack, but safely locked luggage can affect how far insurers are prepared to cover for losses.

The chances of mishap may be maximised on a first major foray abroad, and young travellers’ parents should keep extra copies of all insurance policy documents at home just in case, indicated Stuart Glendinning, managing director at moneysupermarket.com.

For their part, young people should try to anticipate what they might want to do while abroad, particularly so far as extreme sports are concerned.

But if they find themselves tempted by a little ad hoc adventuring such as bungee jumping, white water rafting or skiing, they should make sure they upgrade their policy accordingly.

Many insurance policies on the market, including the Leading Edge’s Backpacker Policy, for example, exclude hang gliding, parachuting, paragliding, and sky diving, moneysupermarket.com explains.

But getting full insurance cover is not the only financial precaution ‘gappers’ should bear in mind, with adequate savings and an emergency overdraft vital precautions needed to tide them over the unexpected expenses.

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