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Make sure you’re properly prepared for your adventure overseas

You've worked out where you're going, sorted out the passport and visas, and taken your vaccinations. Now you're ready to take on the world. Add backpacker cover to our economy travel insurance, and you’ll be good to go.

Woman holding her mobile up to her face on a video call with a male doctor looking back at her

Medical Assistance Plus: 24/7 holiday health support

Have peace of mind when you travel knowing health professionals are just one click away.

Medical Assistance Plus, powered by Air Doctor, comes free with all our travel insurance policies (1). It gives you access to outpatient medical support while you’re away.

Through the service you can book an in-person or video consultation with a doctor. You can also get prescriptions delivered to your nearest pharmacy.

We’ll send you an SMS reminder about the service the day before you travel (for single-trip and backpacker cover) or the day before your policy begins (for annual multi-trip cover).

What’s covered?

Here’s a summary of the cover our backpacker policies provide. For full details check our policy documents.

Read our terms and conditions

An accident abroad

Few countries have total universal healthcare like the UK’s NHS. Most countries outside of the EU don’t have mutual healthcare agreements with the UK. This means the cost of getting treatment can be very expensive. Travel insurance is there to protect you and help when you’re at your most vulnerable

Lost valuables

Some holiday mishaps are down to sheer bad luck. Getting pickpocketed on a busy street. Your airline mislaying your bags. Or someone picking up the wrong rucksack at the bus stop. You just can’t plan for losing your valuables. But you can plan to get help with the replacement costs by getting a backpacker travel insurance quote with us

Sporting activities included

If you’re off travelling the world with a backpack, we’re willing to bet you can be tempted by the odd adventure sport or two. We cover over 100 sports and activities free of charge, but there are some we don’t cover at all. Check your policy wording for the full list and our terms and conditions, as some aren’t covered for personal injury or personal liability

How much cover do you get?

Our backpacker travel insurance comes with our economy cover. Here are some of the cover highlights.

Policy wording

Economy

£125 excess

Insurance Product Information Document (IPID)

Emergency medical expenses and getting you back home

Up to £5 million

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £1,000

Baggage (personal possessions)

Up to £1,500

Money

Up to £250

Travel delay and missed departure

n/a

Insurance Product Information Document (IPID)

Insurance Product Information Document (IPID)

IPID

Emergency medical expenses and getting you back home

Emergency medical expenses and getting you back home

Up to £5 million

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £1,000

Baggage (personal possessions)

Baggage (personal possessions)

Up to £1,500

Money

Money

Up to £250

Travel delay and missed departure

Travel delay and missed departure

n/a

Upgrade your cover with ease

Need cover for your policy that's not included as standard? Just pay a little more to add these upgrades – optional or mandatory depending on the trip type.

  • Trip disruption cover

    This optional extra helps protect you from the impact of airspace disruption, natural catastrophes, terrorist acts or Covid-19 (5)

  • Excess waiver

    If you’re happy with the cover offered, but worried about excess fees, you can opt for an excess waiver. For an additional premium, you can add it to any Post Office level of cover for zero excess fees (5)

  • Gadget cover

    Insure all your devices with our easy-to-add gadget cover. It’s perfect to protect all your smartphones, tablets, laptops and consoles (5)

  • Winter sports cover

    Specialist cover is mandatory for winter sports like skiing and snowboarding. There’s greater risk of emergency costs. Make sure you’re protected on the pistes (5)

  • Cruise cover

    If you're going on a cruise, specialist cover is both important and mandatory. It covers missed departure due to breakdown, falling ill on board, being confined to your cabin, lost baggage and more (5)

  • Trip extensions

    Trip extensions are available up to 45 or 60 days, increasing from the standard 31 days (5)

Woman wearing swimsuit, swim cap and water shoes running in shallow sea water with shingle beach

All medical conditions considered

Living with a medical condition shouldn’t stop you seeing the world. And, with the right travel insurance in place, you can enjoy peace of mind on your adventures – just in case something unfortunate happens.

At Post Office, we cover most pre-existing conditions. Contact us for a quote to see if we can cover you. It’s important to declare upfront all your medical conditions and any medication you're taking.

If we can't help and yours is a serious pre-existing medical condition, check the Money and Pensions Scheme (MaPS) directory. It lists companies that may be able to help you. Or call 0800 138 7777.

Ready to get a quote?

Let’s find the protection that’s right for your travels. Get a quote for Post Office Travel Insurance

Common questions

  • Backpacker insurance is designed for those of us who like to travel the world – and we’ve taken a lot into account. So, you can return home for up to seven days as many as three times. And there are over 100 sports and activities included, so it’s designed with you in mind.

  • To be eligible for Post Office Backpacker Insurance you must:

    • Be aged between 18 and 60 years
    • Reside in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man
    • Be registered with a GP in one of these places

    Conditions and exclusions apply. For full details of what's included with your cover, check the policy wording.

  • While we’ve included a lot of adventure sports as standard on Post Office Backpacker Insurance, you’ll still need extra cover for winter sports. You can add this to your policy for an additional premium.

    You can also add excess waiver cover. With this added cover, you won’t need to pay any part of any claims that you make.

    Before you buy travel insurance, you should thoroughly check our policy terms and conditions. This way you’ll be sure that any adventure sports or activities you want to take part in are fully covered. A good example is if you’re planning to do any voluntary manual work while you’re away. Please be aware that if you need to make a claim, the excess will increase to £250, and purchasing the optional excess waiver won’t remove this excess.

  • Post Office Backpacker Insurance is similar to other forms of travel insurance. It’ll cover you for medical emergency, the cancellation or cutting short of your trip, and loss of your belongings. It’s available with our economy level insurance. It’s a good idea to check our policy documents to make sure it has all the cover you need for your trip.

  • Yes, there is. We’ve partnered with Student Beans to offer a student discount. Log in with your Student Beans account to claim your discount code. Or, if you don’t have one, you’ll need to register for a Student Beans account to verify you’re a student.

    When getting a quote for Post Office Travel Insurance please enter your discount code into the promotion code box. The discount will be taken off your quote total.

  • Yes, we do. We’ve partnered with Grad Beans to offer a discount to students. To claim it, you’ll need to either register for a Grad Beans account (to verify your graduate status) or log in with your existing account. You’ll be given a unique code, which you’ll need to enter in the promotion code box that appears when getting your travel insurance quote. The discount will be taken off your quote total.

  • Read more travel insurance FAQs

Need some help?

Travel insurance help and support

For emergency medical assistance, to make a claim, manage your account online, find answers to common questions about our cover or get in touch:  

Visit our travel insurance support page

Register your policy

If you haven’t yet registered your Post Office Travel Insurance policy, enter your details and create a log in so you can access it any time 

Register policy

Travel insurance policy types

  • Backpacker cover

    • Cover for a one-off trip up to 18 months
    • Option to return home for up to 7 days on 3 occasions.
    • For people aged 18 – 60 wanting to travel the world for a gap year or career break
  • Single-trip cover

    • Cover for a one-off trip in the UK or abroad
    • Perfect for one-off trips or longer holidays of up to 365 days (3)
    • No age limit
  • Annual multi-trip cover

    • Cover for multiple-trips for a 12-month period
    • 31-day trip limit, with extensions available up to 45 and 60 days
    • Available for everyone aged up to 75 years

Policy documents

To access your policy documents, select your cover level then tell us the date you bought your cover.

Economy

Policy numbers starting with TC

Policies are underwritten by Collinson Insurance:

About our travel insurance

Post Office® Travel Insurance is arranged by Post Office Limited and Post Office Management Services Limited.

Post Office Limited is an appointed representative of Post Office Management Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 630318. Post Office Limited and Post Office Management Services Limited are registered in England and Wales. Registered numbers 2154540 and 08459718 respectively. Registered Office: 100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7ER. Post Office and the Post Office logo are registered trademarks of Post Office Limited.

These details can be checked on the Financial Services Register by visiting the Financial Conduct Authority website and searching by Firm Reference Number (FRN).

Notes

(1) This service is not available for trips taken in the UK, only for international travel. The service allows up to 3 separate medical events per person, per policy and for each medical event up to 3 appointments per person listed on the policy. All appointment charges are covered by your travel insurance policy. You will not need to pay any excess fees for this service.

For any online appointments or where the appointment was held at your accommodation, where a prescription is issued, you will need to pay for any medication and claim upon your return home. No excess will be applied for any prescription charges. If your appointment takes place at a clinic and they have a dispensing chemist, you will not need to pay for your prescription and all charges will be covered by your policy at the point of appointment. If there is no dispensing chemist at the clinic, you will either be given a prescription, or the prescription will be sent to a chemist by the treating doctor, and you will need to pay for any medication and claim upon your return home.

If your medical situation needs to be handed over from an outpatient case to an inpatient case and requires hospital admission, you will be handed over to our emergency medical assistance team in the UK. For any inpatient cases, no excess will be applicable.

(3) For economy, standard and premier policies, the single-trip policy will cover you for one trip up to:

  • 365 days for those aged up to and including 70 years
  • 90 days for those aged between 71 and 75
  • 31 days for those aged 76 years and above

(5) Terms and conditions apply.