Grannies on the Go - Travel Insurance For Oldies

Many of the older generation are envious of today's young people's gap years spent travelling the globe and seeing different countries and cultures. Many have to wait until they are senior citizens before they have an opportunity to travel, and even if they don't want to back-pack around India, they often find that getting insurance is a real problem.

Some companies won't entertain insuring you if you are over the age of 75. But travelling without insurance is a risky business and if you have an accident whilst abroad you can end up in serious financial difficulties.

The main reason why travel insurance premiums are so high for older people is that they are more likely to have health conditions which might need treatment while they are abroad. That's the explanation from More Than's spokesperson.

But cancellation is another major reason for claims made by older holiday-makers. If you plan your trip quite a way ahead, as older people tend to do, there is more chance that you may have to cancel it due to illness or any other circumstance cropping up in the meantime. It is more important for our grey tourists to think about what might not be covered on the policy rather than just what it costs.

Saga's managing director advises, "Don't trade price over cover for medical conditions, which is the part of the policy you are most likely to use and tends to be the most expensive if you have to cover costs yourself."

One simple way of virtually halving your premium is to make sure you aren't paying for world-wide travel if you are only planning to visit Europe. Insurance that includes the United States will be a lot higher due to their expensive medical costs and their penchant for litigation.

World-wide annual multi-trip travel insurance could cost a 75-year old man anything from 106.20 pounds from the Halifax, to 319.68 from Intune. A 30-year old could spend around 30 pounds for the same policy.

European annual multi-trip insurance is a lot cheaper. The same 75-year old could pay American Express 168 pounds for his policy, or save 91 pounds by going to the Halifax for 77 pounds.

According to the marketing manager from M&S, once you hit 65 you are likely to start claiming for medical problems. She recommends that the over-65s take out a policy offering medical screening. She explains, "As a normal travel insurance policy automatically excludes any pre-existing conditions, travellers need to consider a product where they can be screened and potentially add on cover for any conditions they do have."

A spokesperson from LV has a couple of tips to share. She warns people over 65 not to cancel any existing travel insurance policies without checking they can get cover from another insurer.

She also advises that a joint policy might be cheaper for a couple. She says, "Not only will it cost less, but if the person you are travelling with is unable to go on holiday, you will be covered for any cancellation costs you incur. However, if the polices are purchased separately you may not be covered."

Specialist providers of travel insurance for the elderly such as Saga or Age Concern are often able to insure the uninsurable! One hundred and one year old Harry Patch, World War Two veteran, paid 40 pounds for insurance to travel to Belgium for four days. He couldn't have got insurance from any other provider.

The head of products for Age Concern Enterprises, explained that Age Concern didn't have a problem with insuring Mr Patch, except that their computer system didn't recognise his birth date as it was pre-1900!