Over 65's Get The Best Value Travel Insurance

For over 65's travel insurance is seen as both over-priced and at the same time providing arguably the most value for any traveller.

Is that a contradiction? Well no, because when considering the nature of many trips purchased by over 65 year-olds, it is this demographic who have perhaps the most reason to splash out on trips of a lifetime.

Typically elder travellers may be in a secure financial position whereby they are precisely aware of their annual income, from a pension for example. This is fantastic for budgeting because the amounts received are pretty steady and reliable.

Contrast that source of finance with investments in shares, or a salaried employee with a demanding family to feed. Instantly it is clear that these factors are going to place a strain of unpredictability on holiday savings. In addition the reliability of income could be withdrawn at any moment, for example with redundancy or a market crash. Over 65's are less exposed to these risks and are generally aware of exactly how much they have to budget for their holidays.

This explains why some older holidaymakers are taking out travel insurance for inspirational trips around the world, on safari, and cruises to multiple destinations.
Which add up to significant values covered under cancellation clauses in their travel insurance policy. In this respect, travellers with the highest value holidays receive the best value from their insurance policy. Compare two cancelled travel plans both paying a similar amount for insurance, if one is refunded 400 for a weekend break and the other 6,000 for an ambitious cruise, who will perceive the policy to be most worthwhile?

On the flip side, elder tourists often claim how high the policy prices can be following age 64. In the main, this is a fair observation. Part of the reason behind these inflated costs is the fact that this age group requires higher pay outs than other groups, due to the high proportion of medical related issues facing the more mature holidaymaker.

When all this is calculated, over 65's often receive high pay outs for holiday cancellations, having booked holidays of a lifetime. This group also claims the greatest amount of all medically related incidents abroad and receives the best value for money of all travel insurance policy holders. But the privilege for this is not cheap.



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A Bright Future For The Over 65's

Being over 65 and filtering through travel insurance quotes can return a wide array of prices, and this is indicative of how unpredictable value for money is in this industry.

Often it has proven to be a disadvantage to be an older traveller because insurance companies in the past have seemed to take the attitude; "you're old, you're probably a risk, and for that we're going to make you PAY!"

However, since the populations of many western countries are growing increasingly more mature; interesting things are happening in the travel insurance world.

Given an overview perspective, an aging population is good for business because an increasing number of holidaymakers fall in to the over 65 age bracket. This means more sales of insurance policies and also a larger market share being influenced by these customers.

The other aspect of having more customers in the 65-plus age range is that the increase in demand for senior travel insurance products will increase, and the subsequent response by insurers to compete for a share of this market will cause prices to fall.

That is, unless the big banks make efforts to display only token competition, for example offering a small percentage off a policy price, or advertising extra months cover for “free”, wherein the end result between high street providers shakes out to be negligible for consumers.

The good news is that specialists supplying over 65 travel insurance are appearing to offer a competitive alternative choice. But it is not so simple to advise "go with the underdog", because each company's pricing structure is different. It really is a case of getting several quotes for your particular circumstances and seeing which combination of price and cover appeals to you.

Further Information

1. Travel Insurance for Over 65's - A valuable resource exploring considerations and providers for mature travellers.
   
   
2. Guardian Article - Investigating the specific pricing distortions for older travellers.

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How Older Travellers Get Hit by Travel Insurance

Why can't older travellers in the over 65 age group get cheap travel insurance? Below we explore five important issues which create this discrepancy.

1. Statistics are against the Over 65's. Unfortunately insurance providers rely heavily on calculated risk formulas based on several factors including demographics. Which means right now the insurers are not interested in giving a discount to a pensioner who eats healthily, and exercises as part of an active lifestyle. This would however occur if the entire peer group behaved this way and the calculations were updated.
   
   
2. The insurers have different maximum ages for annual and single trip policies. The single trip will tend to offer the higher age limit. No other age group has an upper or lower age limit with such incongruence.
    
3. Over 65's can experience medical complexities. Medical issues and illnesses abroad are the major proportion of all travel insurance claims filed each year, and older people receive treatment which is typically more complex and more expensive than younger travellers.
    
4. The system discriminates based on age because there are more known variables to price. This means that health care received in the last 12 months, identified health issues which can be managed, and other “what ifs” are used to inflate the over 65's travel insurance costs. The point being that a 21 year old on their first clubbing holiday would have arguably a lot more unknown “what ifs”, but because these cannot be rationalised by a doctor or predicted by a health professional, the youngster gets a unfairly cheap deal.
    
5. Good organisation is not always rewarded. A pattern of older people's travel habits shows that they often book a holiday well in advance. The irony is it allows circumstances to interfere with well formulated plans, resulting in cancelled holiday claims. Insurers don't hesitate to factor this in to the price for an over 65's policy.

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Travel Insurance for Over 65's

Retirement beckons and the decades of toiling for a wage come to a close, life is great and it is all downhill from here so why not enjoy the now? The holiday is booked to that dream escape which filled childhood curiosities but here comes the crux; travel insurance 65 years on is not so cheap!

Frequently pensioners are choosing a lifestyle which reflects their revised combination of time and money as age 70 approaches and passes.
Cruises, golfing holidays, coach tours, safaris, and others leisure pursuits form the range of travel options favoured by a large number of over 65 travel insurance consumers.

However, when it comes to buying that travel insurance policy, elder holidaymakers are penalised automatically because of their age. In the UK, the Association of British Insurers claims that up to one third of pensionable insurance customers are point-blank refused any cover.

Companies which do serve this growing demographic present a host of reasons to justify the 200% additional travel insurance cost which many endure. Some are understandable, such as the higher incidence of pre-existing medical conditions, but some seem unfairly biased; the claim that over 65's have more accidents: Where is the evidence for that assertion?

Insurers apply a converse logic to policy pricing for old versus young, particularly for annual cover. The logic goes like this; pensioners able to take multiple trips abroad each year must be sitting on a mountain of financial security in order to do so, therefor insurers see this as a very lucrative market.

If the same logic were applied to financially stretched twenty-somethings, the effect would not be an increase in profits, it would be a drop in sales since the youngsters may risk flying without travel insurance, given their robust health record and absence of medical issues.

What Should Be Included?

1. Expect to see medical expenses cover for several millions in value, plus cancellation cover if the trip were to be cancelled for some reason. Check the value of this sum and ensure it is greater than the total trip cost.
   
   
2. Special price increases are often demanded for trips to the USA, this is primarily due to the high medical costs in America.
   
   
3. Repatriation costs are also a standard inclusion if such a flight needed to be arranged.
   
   
4. Review the small print for the precise sums which can be claimed for lost or stolen items, and bear in mind the insurer's excess fees which may apply.

Over 65 Policy Providers

It seems like every major retailer provides for senior citizens now, but many have no specific interest or heritage of serving this demographic and are simply attracted by the potential profit. This criticism is most definitely applicable to the large global brands and household names in finance.

A wiser decision would be to consider companies which have a more genuine rationale for making travel insurance more affordable and accessible for seniors. See below for a list of insurers covering over 65's:

• Intune Group - In association with help the aged, offers travel insurance with no age limit.
  
  
• Insure For All - Caters specifically to the over 65 age group and has no maximum age imposed.
  
  
• Karma Insurance - Selling a variety of conventional policies available to those aged 69 and under. Plus, retails a 70+ product with no upper age restriction.
  
  
• Essential Travel - Supplying mainstream insurance and over 74 travel insurance with cover available for single trips for seniors up to age 89.
  
  
• Club Direct - Has a range of conventional products which extends in to travel insurance for those aged 65 to 99.
  
  
• SAGA travel insurance - A brand associated with senior citizens but not necessarily the best value.
  

An Important Point

While it is established that the link between medical issues and higher policy premiums is known, it is a false economy to skimp on information to get the cheapest travel insurance quote.

Especially pertinent for over 65 year old travellers is to declare all known medical issues when purchasing a quote, because insurers will seize upon any such communication failures as grounds to not pay out, when subsequently making a claim.



Technorati tags; over 65, travel insurance, seniors insurance.