Travel insurance is a pain in the neck but having insurance is just as important as anything you've got crammed into your backpack. Like it or not, having insurance when you need it is a huge relief and not having it can be a trip destroyer or worse.

I know how annoying it is having to fork over your hard earned money for something you might never use only to find out that it doesn't cover the things you thought it did. So I've created this site to help you wade through the best travel insurance options for backpackers heading off on working holidays and extended trips.

Best Travel Insurance for Working

When it comes to working, not all travel insurances are created equal! Many don't cover any injury sustained while working abroad and some only cover injuries caused at certain types of jobs. If you are heading abroad with the intention of working you will want to make sure you're covered. The chart below details the type of work that is covered by each insurer.

Travel Insurance for BUNAC

If you've been doing some research on working holidays, chances are pretty good that you've come across the BUNAC program, especially if you're British, Irish or American. The program offers a variety of work and volunteering programs to young people from these countries including arranging working holidays.

So if you've researched the program then you probably also know that BUNAC says you need to buy travel insurance through them in order to participate. I've contacted them about this to clarify and it turns out that this isn't actually the case. Selling travel insurance can be quite lucrative so it makes sense for BUNAC to make it seem that you have o choice but to buy from them. Don't be scammed... seeing the prices compared below should be enough to convince you!

BUNAC's UK Policy Price Comparison

Time Period	BUNAC	World Nomads	Down Under	Go Travel Insurance	Go Sure
3 Months	£115	£110.28	£69	£91.47	£60.38
6 Months	£233	£166	£127	£129.84	£116.34
12 Months	£411	£278.60	£271	£193.80	£240.53
18 Months	£633	£628.01	£335	-	£404.83
		more info»	more info»	more info»	more info»

So BUNAC's policies are more expensive than those listed here, but it's also more comprehensive. BUNAC's medical coverage is unlimited, it provides £500 worth of dental relief (for pain only), £1500 in luggage coverage and they'll even pay £1000 towards having a relative or friend to fly out to meet you if you are imprisoned! For your average backpacker though, BUNAC's coverage is almost too much and I don't think paying all that extra money is worth it.

So if you're travelling with BUNAC but want to shop around for your travel insurance, check out the policies on my site, find one that suits you and then give BUNAC a quick call to make sure it's suitable for their program. You could save loads. Just make sure you don't spend the extra money getting drunk and thrown in prison because you might be kicking yourself for not getting that BUNAC policy after all!

Insurer	Types of Jobs Covered
World Nomads	You are covered for all work abroad unless your claim can be recovered from your employers' workers compensation insurance.
Downunder Insurance	Manual labour is covered but only at ground level and not involving machinery. Fruit picking isn't considered manual labour so you're covered on ladders.
Go Travel Insure	Bar and harvest work covered as part of standard policy.
JS Travel Insurance	Clerical work, hotel work and teaching are covered. Harvest work and cooking/bartending will be covered for an extra 25% premium (provided no tools or machineryare used).