Our friends over at Travel Aware have provided us with some essential gap year advice about travel insurance. The Travel Aware campaign aims to ensure you have the best possible experience when travelling, help you stay safe and understand the risks in different countries. Read on to learn more…..
If you’re off on an Africa & Asia Venture gap year soon or are just starting to plan your trip, there’s one important purchase you do not want to miss – travel insurance.
Buying appropriate travel insurance is crucial in case you have any problems whilst abroad, giving you the peace of mind you deserve whilst you enjoy your epic adventures. If you do not have appropriate insurance for your gap year or summer abroad, you could be liable for emergency expenses.
To turn you into an insurance expert, we’ve spoken to our partners at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to share our top tips for buying your next insurance policy:
TOP TIPS
1. Declare medical conditions
If you have a pre-existing medical condition or any pending treatment or tests, it is important that you declare this fully when buying your travel insurance. If you buy a basic policy that does not provide enough medical coverage and have an unexpected health issue whilst abroad, you might not be covered and could receive a big bill. It is also important to keep your policy up to date, for instance making sure the insurance company is aware of any new medications or illnesses since you took the policy out.
2. Check that your policy covers you for the full length of your trip
This tip is especially important for gap year travellers! If your policy doesn’t run for the duration of your trip, you won’t be covered if anything happens on the days you aren’t insured for. The last thing you need is to purchase a policy just for something to happen on your last day and find out you aren’t covered.
Additionally, some policies also have an annual limit on the number of days you can spend outside of the UK. Be sure to buy a gap year specific travel insurance policy and check the length of time it will cover you for.
3. Check your insurance policy covers all planned gap year activities
Planning a gap year abroad that’s full of adventure? Some policies won’t cover you for activities such as water sports, bungee jumping or scuba diving. Check your policy before you travel to make sure all your planned activities are covered.
4. Does your policy cover medical evacuation and repatriation?
An often-overlooked requirement when choosing insurance is medical evacuation and repatriation cover. Having this on your policy means that if you do have a medical emergency and you can’t get the treatment you need locally, your provider will arrange for you to be taken to a location where you can. Medical evacuations can cost thousands of pounds so check your policy covers this before travelling.
5. Keep a copy of your policy with you
If you do need to use your policy, you’ll likely have to provide proof of your cover. This is why it is important to have both a physical and digital copy of your insurance company’s 24/7 emergency contact details and your policy number to hand. This should be easy to access from your phone and whilst printing a physical copy may seem like overkill, future you will thank you if you break or lose your phone.
6. Share your policy details with friends and family
To be extra safe, we also recommend that you share your policy details with a family member or close friend too. This can be helpful in case they need to contact your insurance company on your behalf.
Alongside following our top tips above, check FCDO Travel Advice and sign up to email alerts for your destination before you step foot abroad. Any changes to FCDO Travel Advice for your destination could potentially impact your insurance cover, so it’s important to stay up to date. There is also lots of interesting and useful information about all destination countries from entry requirements to laws and cultural differences, so it’s worth cluing up.
Follow these simple steps and you should feel well prepared ahead of your gap year trip of a lifetime!