Love Adventure Travel? Outbacker’s SOS Family App Can Keep You Safe

Adventure travel is great. Escaping the big crowds at tourist hotspots, the outrageous food prices, finding hidden gems off the beaten track. Great fun. But it’s wise to have an emergency back-up plan, just in case your survival skills aren’t in the Ray Mears league.

So, specialist backpacker travel insurer, Outbacker, claims that they become the first in the travel space to launch a community-based app designed as a quick, easy and non-intrusive way to help keep backpackers safe and parents in the loop, amid parents’ fears their globetrotting offspring will be injured or go missing. That’s handy, here are the details;

Launching this week, the app, My SOS Family, allows backpackers to choose their own network of family and friends who are simultaneously contacted with vital information at the touch of a button.  My SOS Family – which comes off the back of a study commissioned by the insurer of 2,000 UK parents of 18-25-year-old backpackers – is being provided as an exclusive service at no cost to new Outbacker policyholders and also to travellers purchasing a backpacker policy from sister brand, CoverForYou.

“We got a real sense from our clients there was a disconnect, literally, between cautious parents wanting to give their children freedom, but naturally worrying, and free-spirited backpackers wanting to explore and experience,” says Outbacker and CoverForYou managing director, Alan Dean.  “The study found our instincts to be spot on, so we looked at a neat, relevant and useful solution that would appeal to both parties – My SOS Family ticked all the boxes.”

My SOS Family key features

• Check In: one click allows backpackers to update their location, photo or video and brief text with their chosen network each time they change location.

• Keeping Safe: if backpackers are off on a solo trek, going out alone, or with new people, the SOS Timer can be set to alert contacts they might need help or are missing. If it’s not disabled within the time limit, emergency contacts will receive the traveller’s location and pre-recorded message, with the timer still working even if the phone is switched off or out of service.

• Emergency: backpackers choose the people they want to be simultaneously contacted if they need help.  At the touch of a button, live location (15 minutes to 8 hours), text and image are sent via SMS or email to all contacts.  The first person to pick up takes ownership and all other contacts are notified the emergency is being dealt with.  Local emergency services can be triggered at the same time.  As long as there’s a basic signal, My SOS Family works.

Key backpacker study findings

• More than two-thirds of UK parents (67%) expect their adult children, exploring the world, backpacking, to contact them several times a week

• One-quarter of parents want contact every day (25%)

• In reality, only 15% of backpackers might make daily contact

• Almost half of backpackers (44%) would not be happy about their parents using a tracking device

• 62% of parents are cautiously excited about their children going backpacking, but worried about their safety

• The number one worry for parents of backpackers is their child could be injured – or worse – in an accident (24%), followed closely by the fear they will go missing (22%)

• When it comes to backpacker travel insurance, it’s parents who overwhelmingly make the purchase (59%)

• Almost all parents (93%) believe travel insurance to be important

According to Outbacker, September is peak period for backpackers booking adventures with significant spikes seen year-on-year. Last year travel insurance policy purchases were up 38% on 2022, with this September already shaping up to be a record year.  Worldwide travel is on the up, but European travel continues to slump – making up only 6% of backpacker travel this summer (2024), down from 44% in 2021.  Australia and New Zealand continue to reign superior as the top two hotspots for UK backpackers.

My SOS Family is available from this week to all Outbacker policyholders purchasing 3, 6, 12 or 18-month travel insurance.  Travellers purchasing a specialist backpacker policy via Outbacker’s sister travel insurer, CoverForYou, can also access the service for free.  To access My SOS Family, travellers receive a link in their welcome email, they then simply download the app from Apple Store or Google Play.

Visit Outbacker FAQs to see a step-by-step video of how each feature of My SOS Family works.

Outbacker and CoverForYou are multi-awarding winning brands of Worldwide Internet Insurance Services and underwritten by Inter Partner Assistance S.A. part of AXA Group.