Reviews > Travel Insurance > Mind the Gap Year

Mind the Gap Year - Travel and gap year insurance reviewed

Apply for a Mind the Gap Year quote here

What we like:

• Wide cover for activities, and policyholders can, with very few exceptions, undertake them on the spur of the moment.
• Offer good support services for travellers such as translation services and hazard notification
• Long experience in this field
• Good working abroad cover - again useful if, say, the policyholder needs to augment funds by working on a farm. Manual work is excluded from backpacking policies from most other companies

What we are not so keen on:

• More difficult to compare as they are not on comparison sites
• The website gets a bit of getting used to, and you need to provide full details before a firm quote is obtained (although a guide price can be obtained in seconds).

What's covered

Designed for travellers up to the age of 40. Offers either Economy or Standard cover. Can be extended to cover winter sports as well. Rather than listing activities covered the company advise a list which are not:

• Winter-sports or trekking above 6000 metres (unless you have paid the appropriate additional premium)
• Scuba diving (unless accompanied by a qualified diving instructor, maximum depth 30 metres)
• Mountaineering with ropes
• Potholing
• Hang gliding
• Parapenting
• Travelling in an aircraft other than as a fare paying passenger.
• Any activities pre-planned and booked before departure from United Kingdom (if this is the case call Mind The Gap Year)

Travel Insurance Covering Working Abroad

The policy does covers most forms of work, whether paid or voluntary, although with some reduction of cover if the work is offshore (other than water-sports), outside higher than 6 metres above the ground, underground, or it uses chainsaws. There is no Personal Liability Cover as this should be covered by an employer.

Additional Benefits

The policy offers some worthwhile additional benefits:

• All policyholders can register with Red24, and obtain daily e-mail updates for them and their parents / loved ones detailing hazards in the region, so they can be avoided.
• Standard policyholders can access an advice line which will give personalised advice about their plans.
• There is a translation service, where for the cost of a UK landline call, policyholders can be connected to an interpretor and have a three way conversation with the foreign language speaker (standard policyholders).
• Discounts on related products (VISA services and Travel Safety Training courses).
• Whilst cover stops immediately an economy policyholder returns to the UK, a standard policyholder can return up to 3 times. In addition return to the UK is allowed in the case of a family bereavement.

Pre-existing Medical Conditions

Exclusions apply if policyholders have pre existing conditions - if this is the case call the company.

Apply for a Mind the Gap Year quote here

This content was last reviewed on 19/09/2017