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Gapyear travellers “don’t understand insurance”

August 31, 2007 by admin  
Filed under News, News-Insurance

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People taking a gap year do not understand travel insurance and see taking it out as an obligation, according to one industry figure.

Tony Griffiths, the founder of gapyear.com, states that although gapyear travellers are becoming more aware of the importance of taking out insurance, they do not understand “what it is or what it does”.

Mr Griffiths also said that some travellers feed they are “indestructible”, particularly males who are aged between 18 and 24. He also added that many people have a “it won’t happen to me” attitude.

“The reality is most of the claims are for things like people falling off a curb. We had an example of someone who fell off a curb in Barcelona and broke their ankle.”

Gapyear.com is part of the Gapyear Company, which is an organisation that provides free information and advice to people considering taking a year out.

It states that 25 per cent of people on a gapyear have either no or inadequate insurance, and that the average spend of 18 to 24-year-olds while travelling is between £3,000 and £4,000.

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