Travelling the world is great!
It’s always a great way to explore the world around and meet new people, new places, new cultures, etc. Visiting a new place is exciting and full of mystery.
We have many reasons to travel but meeting new people is my top. For others, to taste new foods and do exciting adventure activities. Some love the life of a backpacker.
Backpacking is not for everyone, but if you’re interested to pursue it, it can be a great way to live. The most important thing to do is to make sure you are safe while travelling.
The best way to ensure you are safe while travelling is to get the best travel insurance. If you are a UK resident, True Traveller Insurance is your best bet.
If your permanent residence is not in the UK you should check World Nomads or SafetyWing.
Do You Need a Backpacker Travel Insurance?
So, you’ve decided to be a backpacker. You prepared your stuff and said your goodbyes. You are now ready to embark on your life-changing journey as a nomad. Then you think about getting backpacker insurance.
You probably heard that you don’t need it, but you heard it wrong. It’s tempting to convince yourself that you don’t need it until things go wrong and you don’t have enough money on you.
According to many backpackers, the most important thing in nomad travel insurance is medical coverage. They have adjusted their policies to best suit the needs of a backpacker.
Why True Traveller?
The company started in 2010 by three travellers who all previously worked for a known travel company back in the 1980s. They all did their own thing until they got back together and started The True Traveller.
It started as a travel company which specialized in adventure holidays with their very own insurance.
As time passed, the insurance side of the business became much bigger than the adventure holidays, so they decided to focus on providing great travel insurance for fellow travelers. The founders are travellers themselves, so they understand its importance.
They set up this company to be the best. Today, you can find them listed as the best travel insurance for Southeast Asia, among others. You can trust and rely on The True Traveller to keep you safe while traveling.
They currently have a total review of 2,814 with a rating of 4.8 at trustpilot.com. As the company line goes, “Travel insurance designed by travelers.”
FAQ TrueTraveller Travel Insurance
Let’s have a quick look at some of the most common questions asked about their policies.
- How much is the medical coverage of the backpacker-insurance?
- Coverage is between £2.5M up to £10M, depending on your choice of policy.
- How long can I stay away in one single trip?
- The length of coverage can go from 2 days to 18 months. If you are visiting the US and Canada, it can be up to 2 years.
- May I visit home while I’m backpacking?
- Your TrueTraveller insurance graciously accommodates your visits home. You can visit as many times as you want and as long as you wish. Your policy will be suspended when at home and restarts when you are back on the road.
- Do I need to wait until I get back home to make a claim? Or can I do that while away?
- Claims can be made anytime. For large medical claims, payments are made directly to the hospital.
- I have a pre-existing medical condition. Do I still qualify?
- Yes. A medical declaration will have to be accomplished upon application. They cover most medical conditions. But for those that aren’t, it can be made part of your application so you are covered.
Types of Insurance
- Trekking
- One-way
- Backpacker
- Gap Year Travel
- IEC for Canada
- Winter Sports
- Already Travelling
- Multi-trip
Insurance Plans
There are three main plans offered by TrueTraveller:
- True Value
- The Traveller
- Traveller Plus.
Please note that you should read your entire policy once you have it. This review does not cover the full extent of the policies they offer.
The price for each plan differs depending on where you go and where you are from. They cater to residents of the 35 territories listed on their website, permanent residents of the UK and EEA member states.
They have coverage for trips within Europe, which includes Morocco, Egypt and Israel, to Australia & New Zealand, Worldwide excluding US and Canada or Worldwide including US and Canada. Obviously, coverage for all countries will be more expensive than those only for Europe.
I’ve tried getting a quote and it shows that for a 30-year-old person, a resident of the United Kingdom, who travels to Southeast Asia (Worldwide excluding US and Canada), for one month of travel you have the next costs:
- True Value Plan is £71.17
- The Traveller is £86.59
- Traveller Plus is £97.62.
It’s easy to get a quote and takes very little time. You can get a quote here.
Now let’s see what happens when you take one year gap. For the same age, 30-year-old UK resident who travels for one year Worldwide excluding US and Canada:
- True Value Plan is £315.49
- The Traveller is £413.58
- Traveller Plus is £480.68.
As you can see, taking insurance for one year is a huge deal and here comes the power of long term travel. This insurance provider is good for long term travel but not too cheap for short holidays.
True Value Plan
This is the lowest of the three. It includes the following coverages.
- Medical & Repatriation Expenses up to £2.5M
- Hospital Cash Allowance of £10 per day up to £100
- Accidental Disability coverage up to £10,000
- Cancellation coverage up to £1,000
- Curtailment coverage up to £1,000
- Personal Liability coverage up to £1,000,000
- Legal expenses up to £7,500
The Traveller Plan
This plan includes all the items in the True Value Plan with adjusted coverage amounts plus a few more covered items. Here are the inclusions:
- Medical & Repatriation Expenses up to £5M
- Hospital Cash Allowance of £15 per day up to £150
- Accidental Disability coverage up to £15,000
- Cancellation coverage up to £3,000
- Curtailment coverage up to £3,000
- Travel Delay and Abandonment coverage up to £25 for every 12 hours up to £100
- Missed Departure coverage up to £500
- Hijack coverage up to £50 per day up to £1,500
- Personal Liability coverage up to £2,000,000
- Legal expenses up to £15,000
- Financial Failure Protection coverage up to £1,500
Traveller Plus Plan
As the most expensive plan, it goes without saying that this plan has the most coverage amounts. However, it has the same items covered in the Traveller Plan. Here are the core coverages:
- Medical & Repatriation Expenses up to £10M
- Hospital Cash Allowance of £25 per day up to £250
- Accidental Disability coverage up to £25,000
- Cancellation coverage up to £7,500
- Curtailment coverage up to £7,500
- Travel Delay and Abandonment coverage up to £35 for every 12 hours up to £140
- Missed Departure coverage up to £1000
- Hijack coverage up to £100 per day up to £3,000
- Personal Liability coverage up to £2,000,000
- Legal expenses up to £25,000
- Financial Failure Protection coverage up to £5,000
For an additional fee you can include any of the next options to your plans:
- Baggage, Money & Travel Documents
- Specified items: Up to £450 per item, £750 total
- Travel Disruption
- Collision Damage Waiver Excess
- Already Travelling Option
- Travel Resumption of up to £1,500 (all three plans)
- Collision Damage Waiver Excess for up to a maximum of 31 days for each rental period.
Activities Included
Every insurance (True Value, Traveller or Traveller Plus) plan includes the standard “Traveller Pack” with different activities. Depending on what activities you will practice while travelling, you have different packages.
- Traveller Pack (included)
- Adventure Pack
- Extreme Pack
- Ultimate pack.
For most of the travellers, the included pack is enough. You have to check very well every activity and if needed, to upgrade your activities. The list with activities included in each pack is available after making a quote.
GET A QUOTE
Coronavirus Coverage
In this time of the pandemic, there is a lot of curiosity about the insurance coverage for COVID-19. So, I looked it up, and here is the official message of TrueTraveller regarding the matter:
True Traveller policies now include medical, cancellation and curtailment cover for Coronavirus, subject to there being no UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel warning for Coronavirus for the country or area you are traveling to.
The FCDO have an Exempt List of countries where no warning is in place for Coronavirus.
If your destination is not on this list, then your True Traveller policy has no cover for Coronavirus but will provide you with medical cover in relation to any other sudden unexpected illness or accident, as well as cancellation and curtailment cover for an event unrelated to Coronavirus.
For further information about the Coronavirus and your True Traveller policy, please click here.
Summary of Coverage
The information below is a summary of the main coverages. Always read your entire policy for the full coverage and inclusions.
Claim Process
According to their process guidelines, all claims must be submitted within 60 days of the event that requires a claim. Same with others, you have to make sure that your claim is valid and within your policy coverage.
They have several steps for different claims. Their website indicates that you may have to contact specific departments for each claim type. For more details on the claims process, you may click on this link.
Final Thoughts
If you are a resident of one of the countries listed on their website, then you can truly say that this is one of the best travel insurance for backpackers. The only real downside to TrueTraveller is the limited number of residents they cover.
Other than that, their inclusions are very comprehensive with a great focus on medical expenses which is the main concern when backpacking. Their prices are reasonable and they have good optional add-on coverages in case you want to do more with your travels.
Backpacking is great for our great as a human being. I would recommend it to anyone, and if you have the opportunity to do it, don’t let that opportunity pass you by and never forget to take up a backpacker health insurance.
The peace of mind that comes from knowing that someone’s got your back is worth every penny.
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