Gap year travellers shunning travel insurance

The numbers of young people going on gap year holidays without travel insurance is a matter of serious concern, according to the founder of a gap year holiday website.

According to Tom Griffiths of gapyear.com around 25 per cent of young people opting for backpacking/gap year trips leave the country without travel insurance.

This is due, Mr Griffiths said, to the widely held perception that travel insurance is "boring" and that it is only really necessary for enthusiasts of dangerous sports - an idea of which holidaymakers will soon be disabused when they find themselves facing a huge bill for an everyday accident.

He said: "People think that it's only about bungee jumping and riding mopeds and sky-diving, but the reality is that for most people it's about falling off a kerb, falling off a donkey or a camel; it's the little things that cost so much money."

He added: "We are seriously concerned. No parent would ever let their child jump in a car without car insurance, yet they'll let them leave the country without travel insurance."

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