Backpackers "should avoid valuable items"

Expensive goods such as SLR cameras may not be covered by backpackers' insurance policy, according to a spokesperson from independent travel agent Trailfinders.

The spokesperson said that some insurance policies have a payout limit on individual items. "[If] you have a very expensive SLR camera that has a value over £250, for example, you'd only be insured up to that value," he explained.

However, backpackers can insure more expansive items via a separate policy, including and individual's existing home insurance.

In related news, research carried out by AA travel Insurance shows that backpackers carry goods with them that total £1 billion.

The company also revealed the average contents of a packback now totals £450.

Other information passed on by the Trailfinders spokesperson is that those looking for insurance should not base their decision on cost alone.

He explains that due to the nature of the travel - which is more off the beaten track - backpackers require "very different type of policy to someone who's been to a five-star hotel for a few days in the middle of a major city within Europe".

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