Best Backpacker Travel Insurance Of 2025
This page has been expert reviewed by Anna-Marie Duthie, insight consultant in general insurance at Defaqto.
A backpacking trip lasts much longer than the average holiday, and can involve a far greater scope of experiences and activities. That’s why specialist backpacker insurance is necessary.
These policies cater for long trips of more than one year, for example, and for activities or adventure sports. Many will also allow trips back home within the policy term and can in some cases cover paid or unpaid work whilst you’re away
Our best travel insurance for backpackers in 2025
While the best value backpacker policy will vary according to your circumstances, we’ve rounded up our pick of the best for a three-month trip (between January and April 2025), based on key factors set out in our methodology, below.
Best for premium
Holiday Extras
Price
£275.57
Excess per person
£50
Gadget cover
£1,000
Price
£275.57
Excess per person
£50
Gadget cover
£1,000
Priced at £275.57, this policy offers up to £3,000 for cancellations if your trip is cancelled or cut short due to unexpected emergencies such as illness, injury or bereavement. It pays up to £2,000 for baggage and includes £1,000 for gadget cover.
It pays up to £15m for medical expenses and levies an excess of £50 per person, per eligible claim.
Coverage under this policy extends to non-manual work such as administrative and clerical duties, bar work or restaurant work. It also includes fruit picking so long as you don’t use the machinery.
Sports and activities including banana boating and ziplining are covered by this policy too. Holiday Extras has an excellent Trustpilot score of 4.4 stars and a Fairer Finance customer experience score of 50.03%.
- £1,000 gadget cover
- £50 excess
- No excess waiver
Best for baggage
Oasis Insurance
Price
£452
Excess per person
£50
Gadget cover
£1,000
Price
£452
Excess per person
£50
Gadget cover
£1,000
Costing £452, this policy offers up to £5,000 if your trip is cancelled or cut short due to an unexpected emergency such as illness, injury or bereavement. There’s up to £3,000 available for lost, damaged or stolen baggage and £1,000 for gadget cover. This policy also pays out up to £20m for medical expenses.
It covers a wide selection of sports and activities including non-manual work, water polo and hiking.
This policy also levies an excess of £50 per person, per eligible claim. Oasis Insurance has an excellent Trustpilot score of 4.7 stars.
- £1,000 gadget cover
- £5,000 cancellation cover
- £50 excess -£3,000 baggage cover
- £20m medical cover
- £95 excess
- No excess waiver
RAC
Price
£315.09
Excess per person
£70
Gadget cover
£750
Price
£315.09
Excess per person
£70
Gadget cover
£750
With a premium of £315.09, this policy offers up to £5,000 if your trip is cancelled or cut short due to an unexpected emergency such as illness, injury or bereavement. There’s up to £2,000 available for lost, damaged or stolen baggage and £750 for gadget cover.
It levies an excess of £70 per person, per eligible claim and pays up to £15m for medical expenses.
A wide range of activities are covered by this policy including elephant or camel riding, paintballing and non-manual work such as office jobs, bar work and fruit picking.
- £750 gadget cover
- £5,000 cancellation cover
- £70 excess
- No excess waiver
Virgin Money
Price
£392.84
Excess per person
£50
Gadget cover
£1,000
Price
£392.84
Excess per person
£50
Gadget cover
£1,000
With a premium of £392.84, this policy offers up to £3,000, per insured person, if your trip is cancelled or cut short due to an emergency such as illness or bereavement. There’s up to £15m available for emergency medical expenses and repatriation.
It pays out up to £2,000, per insured person, to cover lost or stolen belongings. There’s also up to £1,000 available to cover gadgets.
This policy levies an excess of £50 per person per eligible claim. It covers a wide variety of sports and activities such as mountain biking, kayaking and surfing, you’ll also be covered if you pick up work at a bar or restaurant during your trip.
Virgin Money has a Fairer Finance customer experience score of 51.27%.
- £50 excess only
- £1,000 gadget cover
- No excess waiver
OK To Travel
Price
£325.82
Excess per person
£100
Gadget cover
£1,000
Price
£325.82
Excess per person
£100
Gadget cover
£1,000
Priced at £325.82, this policy offers £3,000 cancellation cover along with £15m medical coverage.
You’ll also get up to £2,000 cover in case your belongings are lost, stolen or damaged. There’s also £1,000 cover for gadgets.
This policy levies an excess of £100 per person, per eligible claim. As well as covering a wide variety of sports and activities such as mountain biking and surfing, you’ll also be covered if you pick up work at a bar or restaurant during your trip.
- £1,000 gadget cover
- £15m medical cover
- £100 excess
- No excess waiver
Summary of our top providers
What is backpacker insurance?
Backpacker insurance is a type of travel insurance policy specifically designed to cover extended trips where you may visit a number of countries and participate in a range of activities.
A backpacker travel insurance policy includes financial protection for any medical treatment you may require while away, as well as for mishaps such as cancellation and lost or stolen baggage.
Many policies also offer cover for gadgets, such as mobiles and laptops, as standard. However, it’s not guaranteed and limits vary so ensure you check the policy terms and exclusions.
What does backpacker travel insurance cover?
Backpacker travel insurance policies vary in terms of what they offer. But typically, policies will cover the following as standard:
- medical expenses and repatriation back to the UK
- cancellations and delays
- personal liability (should the policyholder injure someone or damage their belongings on holiday)
- baggage and personal belongings
- extreme sports such as white-water rafting and bungee jumping
- winter sports such as skiing.
Note that not all policies will cover extreme or winter sports so check carefully before applying. Depending on your plans, it may be worth taking out a separate winter sports cover instead.
If you are planning on taking up volunteering work, check if cover extends to this too.
How much does backpacker insurance cost?
The cost of a backpacker insurance policy depends on a number of factors.
As with all types of travel insurance, premiums tend to increase with the age of the policyholder, and if they are travelling with a medical condition they had before taking out the policy (known as a pre-existing condition).
Destination also has a part to play in a policy’s price. Insurance for Europe tends to be the cheapest, while cover for travel further afield (particularly for destinations such as the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean where medical costs are very high) will cost more.
While the cost of a policy will be specific to the traveller, the table below illustrates what a backpacker insurance policy might cost for an 18-year-old with no pre-existing conditions travelling for a year.
| DESTINATION | CHEAPEST QUOTE | AVERAGE PRICE |
|---|---|---|
|
Europe
|
£141.28
|
£273.11
|
|
Worldwide
|
£337.95
|
£513.87
|
|
Worldwide (excluding USA, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean)
|
£302.85
|
£406.42
|
Source: Moneysupermarket.com Financial Group Limited
Are there any exclusions?
As with any type of insurance policy there are also a number of gaps to be aware of. Again, these will vary depending on the policy and the insurer, but the following are likely to fall outside of the policy cover:
- claims resulting from being under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- medical treatment for pre-existing conditions
- claims because vaccination requirements are not met
- claims arising from travel to a destination the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO)
- unattended possessions (eg. leaving a bag unattended and it is stolen)
- claims arising from taking part in illegal activity or acting maliciously.
How can I get the best backpacker insurance policy?
When comparing backpacker travel insurance, it can help to consider the following to get the right cover:
- are all planned activities, such as snowboarding, skiing, scuba diving or quad biking covered?
- are all the trip destinations covered? Premiums may be higher for visiting certain countries
- will the policy cover a change of plans such as extending the trip?
- is there a 24/7 customer helpline for support while away?
- what’s the single item cover limit for personal possessions? Do valuable items require separate cover?
When applying for backpacker insurance it’s important to inform the insurer of any pre-existing conditions. On making a claim, the insurer will investigate. And it could refuse to pay if it finds out false information was provided at application stage, or required information wasn’t disclosed.
Consider the excess, which is the amount payable towards the cost of any claim. The higher it is, the less the policy premiums typically are.
However, bear in mind it may be safer to keep the excess low as the amount to pay will add up if multiple claims are made.
How do I claim on backpacker insurance?
To make a claim while away, take the following steps:
1. Report the incident
For claims involving the theft of belongings, the first step should be to report the incident to the police. Often this needs to be done within 24 hours.
2. Contact the insurer as soon as possible
Contact the insurer with details of the incident and make the claim as soon as possible. Often there is only a short window in which to do this.
3. Get the insurer to accept medical claims
Where medical attention is required, providing it’s not an emergency, get the insurer to accept the claim before going any further.
4. Retain any evidence
Many insurers will ask for evidence to support the claim such as medical bills or police reports. It can also be worth keeping receipts for any essential items bought in the interim, such as food and drink, as many insurers will allow these to be added to a claim.
Methodology
Using our online comparison tool, powered by our travel insurance partner, CYTI, we ran quotes to review single trip backpacker polices. We based our research on a solo traveller in their mid-20s, backpacking across Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos for three months.
We assumed that the traveller does not have any pre-existing medical conditions and only included policies that offered at least £5 million in medical cover and £2,000 in cancellation cover.
We then ranked each policy on the following factors:
- Price: The premium (one-off payment) charged for cover
- Gadget cover: How much protection is available for personal devices such as smartphones and laptops as standard
- Excess: the amount deducted from any successful claims payout
Each policy was awarded a Forbes Advisor star rating out of five.
