Working backpackers not covered by travel insurance?

September sees the start of the great Gap Year exodus. But as over 430,000 British backpackers hit the trail, they risk invalidating their travel insurance by taking on voluntary or casual work, warns online insurance specialist Essential Travel.

‘Working has become integral to the backpacking experience,’ says Essential Travel’s Director of Marketing Philip Jordan, ‘Travellers like to volunteer with overseas charities, or pick up casual jobs along the way to eke out their budget’. But Jordan cautions that backpackers’ insurance only covers them for non-manual work and it’s vital that travellers read the small print of their policies: ‘When backpackers help local charities build a school or take paid work on somewhere like a farm, they should know never to use power tools - like electric drills or saws - or drive heavy duty vehicles’ advises Philip Jordan: ‘If they do and they’re injured, they will not be covered by their travel insurance.’

As with most things, it is the parents who are generally paying for their intrepid off-spring's adventures, including buying their travel insurance. And it is in response to a steady stream of questions from concerned parents that Essential Travel has devoted this month's free Essential Travel Magazine to Gap Year travel. In addition to backpacking tips, and an Essential introduction to La Ruta Maya - the Mayan trail from Cancun on the Mexico Riviera through Belize and onto Guatemala - Philip Jordan helps a worried parent who asks: what work can my son safely do on his travels? Q&A

For more information visit essentialtravel.co.uk