How to Find Decent Travel Insurance for Seniors
14 Oct 2012 by Olga Brighton
Travel Insurance Tips
Travelling is one of the things that help to keep people young at heart. The desire to travel and discover new places never ages. Unfortunately, unlike their desires human beings get old.
Age can bring positive sides (such as wisdom, maturity) as well as negative (such as illnesses). As for travel insurance for aged people it also has negative sides. Many travel insurance companies use age as one of the most important criteria when selling policies. They say that insuring seniors is more risky than insuring young people due to the health condition of elderly people. Especially, travel insurance companies try to avoid insuring individuals who are over 70, moreover over 80.
Therefore, it is significant to know how to find decent travel insurance for seniors. Here are the following steps that help seniors to spend their golden years exploring new places and not worry about where to find appropriate travel insurance:
- Decide exactly what coverage you need and which pre-existing health conditions you want to include. Some companies have a long list of “No Screen” conditions which are automatically covered without the need to contact the medical screening service, including High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Asthma and many others.
- Search your travel destination and travel conditions. Ask yourself answers on the following question: are you going to travel alone or with a group of people. What activities you will be doing while travelling? Are there any vaccinations required? Are there any possible dangers and risks you may face on your trip? Then think how you could solve the issues you may face on your road. You should be prepared before purchasing travel insurance policy.
- Always search online. The Internet is a great help to get the answers on all possible questions. It is a global web, so there will always be people who faced the same situation. So, forums give a great possibility to avoid mistakes other elderly travellers have made. Search systems help you to find and compare multiple offers and choose the best one. With the help of the Internet it is so easy to find out small nuances and organise almost all your future trip online: from booking a flight, hotels, restaurants to buying decent travel insurance.
- Travel insurance costs less online. Unfortunately, people over 65 are not always used to use the internet. However, it is where the lowest prices on travel insurance policies could be found. Also, you can choose an insurer that specializes in offering over 80 travel insurance.
- Don’t purchase the first quote you find. Analyse different options and don’t let your age decrease your ability to get decent travel insurance. Do your best to get the best price on travel insurance policy.
- Check which extended options you need for your trip: delays, holiday cancellations, hazardous sports/activities, cover for valuables and numerous other risks.
- Always know what you are covered for. Read fine print carefully and ask if you are not sure. It is better to be overcautious than suffer later.
While many elderly people meet with one refusal after another when it comes to getting a travel insurance policy, we hope that these tips and advice will help you to travel to all corners of the globe knowing that your life is in safe bands.
Read more: How Does Age Affect Travel Insurance Rates?