Travel insurance for older people: fewer choices and more restrictions

My mother-in-law was made of stern stuff. She was a nurse in London during the Blitz, and had emerged from this experience with a can-do attitude that stayed with her throughout her long life. She loved to travel and what really bugged her was how an arbitrary number – her date of birth – could suddenly make travel a lot more problematic, especially when it came to getting insurance for her trips. Insurance is all about assessing risk and, actuarially, risk rises as we age. As a consequence, older travellers have to pay more to fly their kites in foreign places. Many mainstream policies have a cut-off point of 65 or 70 years of age, which really annoyed my mother-in-law who was in good health and fitter than people half her age. However, there’s no arguing with the rules, so the best you can do is to look for value when choosing a travel policy while accepting that there will be a smaller pool of insurers to choose from.READ MOREMost will cover one-off trips for people until the age of 79 at least, and a few – including VHI, Laya Health and Justcover.ie – have no upper limit. However, the ones tied to the health insurers will be available only to those who have private health policies with those companies.InsurerSingle Trip maximum ageAnnual policy maximum ageVHINo upper limitNo upper limitLayaHealthcareNo upper limitNo upper limitJustcover.ieNo upper limitNo upper limitChill.ie8686Insureandgo.ie8686Insuremyholiday.ie8686TheAA.ie7979Getcover.ie7979Multitrip.ie7975Source: Switcher.ie Some insurers have gone niche and actually have separate policies for people in their 50s, 60s and 70s. If you have the time, it can pay off to shop around – especially if you’re planning a long trip or a trip to a faraway destination. Always check that the policy you’re thinking of buying is not limited by geography. Some policies only cover Europe and, within that, policies can even be subdivided by the countries covered. Make sure you’ve chosen one that doesn’t exclude or limit your travel to your intended destination. A shortcut to doing all the research yourself is to use a comparison site, but do remember that these sites are selective based on the information you give them. If you have the patience and have planned ahead, get individual quotes from the companies concerned and one from a comparison site as the combination will give you a better basis for comparison. Cancellation and loss of personal itemsAt its most basic, you want a policy that can get you home if you’re sick or injured while abroad and that provides cover for cancellation, loss of personal items and lost baggage. The world is a volatile place at the moment, so be aware that some insurers will not provide cover to destinations with travel alerts due to social or political unrest. If in doubt, check the Department of Foreign Affairs’ website, which provides travel advice by country and flags the risk level. If the department recommends against travel, you may find it difficult to get insured. Most insurers will offer the choice of single or multi-trip policies, and it is worth comparing the cost of both. An annual policy may look more expensive at first glance, but it can work out more cost effective if you are going to travel several times over the course of a year. With single-trip policies, it can be prudent to add an extra day (or two) on to your trip to ensure you’re covered for delays. Always book your insurance at the same time you book your trip so that your cancellation cover is in place from the get-go. Tailor your policyDon’t assume you’re automatically covered for leisure or sporting activities while you’re away. If you think you might like to try out something different (such as scuba diving), make sure it is covered by the policy you are purchasing.Also tailor your insurance to your destination. For example, you may need higher medical cover for travel in the US while cruising often requires a special class of policy. Some insurers offer different grades of policy such as plus or premium, for which you pay more but also get more, so it’s worth looking at what the differences are. If you’re an anxious traveller, opt for the one that provides the best cover for what worries you most – whether that’s cancellation, loss of your personal items or ending up in hospital. It’s also worth looking at whether a policy provides 24/7 emergency assistance with a helpline to call if you’re in trouble. This came in very handy last year when I was visiting the Channel Islands and had a disagreement with a step and a marble floor. My spectacular take off but poor landing necessitated a trip by ambulance to the accident and emergency department. A call to my insurer’s helpline assured me I was covered for the hospital visit, and I was treated efficiently before being presented with a bill for just over €700, which had to be paid on the spot and reclaimed. Cue my credit card. What I hadn’t expected, however, was to get a £926 (€1,080) bill for the ambulance a week later. I took a deep breath and sent it to my insurer. Fortunately, it was covered but I certainly didn’t see that one coming. Medical adviceTravel insurance policies require the disclosure of pre-existing medical conditions, and it is best to come clean at the outset to avoid the chance of a claim being rejected later on. Also probable to cause problems if things go wrong is travelling against medical advice. Pre-existing conditions can affect the cost of a policy, but they shouldn’t necessarily stop someone travelling as there are specialist policies for those with particular illnesses. If you are travelling within the European Union – or to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – make sure you bring your European Health Insurance Card with you, and that it is in date.Many travel insurance policies require this for public hospital treatments in Europe before they will process a private claim. It’s free but needs renewing every four years. You apply for it through the HSE in person or online.For the purposes of this article, I sought a quote for annual worldwide cover for a 75-year-old with no health issues and private health insurance.The policy came with three cover options, with the cheapest costing €185 and the most expensive €270. The main things covered were medical and repatriation costs, trip cancellation and the loss of personal belongings. There was an excess applied on the cheaper policies, and the amount of money paid for medical and repatriation expenses was also capped on these policies. I then put the same information into a comparison site. The cheapest quote came in at €136 and the most expensive at €275. As with all insurance policies, the devil is in the detail. I struggled to unravel some of the logic such as why an expensive policy provided less cover for lost baggage than a cheaper one. Safe travels. You can contact us at OnTheMoney@irishtimes.com with personal finance questions you would like to see us address. If you missed last week’s newsletter, you can read it here.