Emerald Life is delighted to provide travel insurance for over 65s with pre-existing medical conditions as part of our mission to make insurance and financial services more accessible to all.
Travel insurance over 65 can be difficult but we have a specialist travel insurance product tailored for travellers over 65 with pre-existing medical conditions without costing the earth.
This is to give you peace of mind that no matter your age you can still get comprehensive travel insurance over 65 that covers your existing medical conditions rather than having to exclude them and render a policy largely useless.
In fact, nevermind travel insurance over 65, we have no upper age limit to start cover at all.
Of course, our over 65s travel insurance policy is still available to you if you don’t have any pre-existing medical conditions.
Over 65s travel insurance is rare as many policies don’t cover travellers over the age of 74 because a lot of insurers think travellers over 65 are much more likely to make a claim for expensive medical bills.
But we knew that had to change. Not only are average life expectancies going up in the UK but so is quality of life and now many of us look forward to an older age that doesn’t keep us grounded.
We therefore decided that an upper age limit excludes many healthy travellers who are likely to enjoy many trips without making a claim.
Pre-existing medical conditions are common, especially as we get older, but plenty of them are also more manageable than ever thanks to new treatments.
And of course its not just medicine that has improved our retirements – affordable travel opportunities have never been better and so its no wonder plenty of people over 65 want to seize this bright new opportunity.
But travel insurance, like much of the financial sector, has been left in the past.
Many travel insurance providers take the old assumption that providing insurance for over 65s is a high risk. In fact most travel providers will not provide travel insurance over the age of 74.
That excludes thousands of older travellers who are perfectly able to travel safely and yet have to find expensive specialist travel insurance to do so.
Of course there is always the ability to travel uninsured. Travel insurance is not a legal requirement. But that comes at significant personal risk. While you are likely to find good medical treatment abroad if something happened, you may face very high medical bills as a result. What’s more is if you have to be repatriated then the cost could be staggering.
Why take the risk? Over 65s travel insurance is changing and we want to make sure that travel insurance for over 65s is simple and easy to access so that no one risks travelling uninsured because of their age or medical conditions.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Our Over 65s Travel Insurance
You may think that travel insurance for over 65s means compromising on cover – like missing coverage or high excesses.
Actually, our over 65s travel insurance includes all the benefits of a regular travel insurance policy, such as:
- 24 hour medical emergency support
- Medical expenses up to £10 million
- Loss of medication up to £300
- Cancellation cover up to £5,000 (platinum policies)
- Personal property up to £3,000 (platinum policies)
- Scheduled Airline Failure (insolvency cover) included
- Travel Dispute Cover available
What Qualifies As Pre-Existing Conditions For Travel Insurance?
The human body is an incredible work of evolution and as such there are plenty of things that can go wrong in both the short and long term.
For that reason it can often be difficult to understand what constitutes a medical condition that you have to declare to your travel insurance provider.
Have/are you or anyone in your party:
- taken any prescribed medication, or received any medical treatment in the last 2 years;
- attended a medical practitioner’s surgery, or hospital or clinic (out-patient or in-patient) in the last two years;
- awaiting medical treatment or investigation;
- been diagnosed by a medical practitioner as suffering from a terminal illness.
All medical conditions you have must be disclosed as well as any previous medical conditions if they could have an impact on your current health.
How We Consider Pre-Existing Conditions For Travel Insurance
We’re proud of the quality of cover we provide. Some of these features really stand out in the travel insurance industry such as:
- Cover up to a high level of severity and even a terminal prognosis
- Cancer, Heart Conditions, Diabetes, Stroke, Epilepsy and many more
- Cover is available to travellers on a course of chemotherapy or radiotherapy
- Cover for mental health conditions
When you are looking for over 65s travel insurance we will ask you a series of simple questions about any pre-existing medical condition which only takes a few minutes.
Annual And Single Trip Over 65s Travel Insurance
Our fast online travel insurance quote form will ask for your destination. From that we understand what medical costs may be in that country. For that reason, European travel insurance cover tends to be much cheaper than USA travel insurance where medical treatment costs are much higher.
Then we get onto a single trip travel insurance policy or annual multi-trip policy.
An annual policy covers an ulimited number of trips in one year, provided that each trip is no more than 31 days long.
Once your medical status has been taken into account, along with the variables of destination and duration – you will have your quote in minutes.
An annual over 65s travel insurance policy is ideal for regular travellers and can be cheaper than buying multiple single trip travel insurance policies.
Travel Insurance For Over 65s Emergency Medical Expenses
The most important part of any travel insurance cover is emergency medical expenses cover. Typically ranging from £5 million to £10 million – the higher in our case – this covers your costs if you become ill or injured abroad and require medical treatment.
Medical expenses often include repatriation cover so that if your condition means you have to return to the UK urgently then there is cover for transporting you along with any necessary medical equipment and staff. Unsurprisingly, these costs can be staggering.
For cheap travel insurance for seniors over 65, you can opt for our Silver level of cover, which gives you full cover up to £10 million for medical expenses but without the extras like cancellation cover and personal possessions.
Note that the Silver plan has a higher excess of £500 on medical claims while Gold has £75 and Platinum has no excess.
Travel Insurance For Over 65s Cancellation Cover
Imagine the nightmare that you are ill or injured just before you were meant to go on holiday. All those plans and prepayments hang in the balance.
In our Gold and Platinum levels of cover you are covered if you have to cancel your holiday due to injury or illness, or some other specified circumstances.
We cover up to £2000 on Gold and £5000 on Platinum cover for
- your portion of prepaid transport charges
- loss of accommodation
- foreign car hire
- pre-paid excursions booked before you go on your trip (up to a maximum of £250) that you have paid or have agreed to pay, that you cannot recover from any other source,
If you have to cancel your trip because you, a travelling companion or close relative is ill, injured or dies before the trip starts or your passport, or the passport of any person you were intending to travel with, is stolen during the seven days before your booked date of departure – rest assured you’re covered.
Please note that if you have to cancel because of the death or illness of a close relative, there should not have been any specific concern about that relative before you booked your travels.
Travel Insurance Personal Possessions Cover
Good travel insurance can also provide a lot of help with your personal possessions.
In the unfortunate event that your baggage is delayed for at least 12 hours, whilst in the custody of your carrier on your outward journey, you can claim for the cost of buying replacement necessities.
There’s also cover for if your valuables are stolen or damaged, including laptops.
Our Gold level covers up to £2000 of personal possessions while Platinum is £3000.
Travel Insurance Gadget Cover
If you go for a Gold or Platinum plan, you can also add in up to £1000 of gadget cover to cover the theft or damage of your phone, tablet and some other electronics.
Travel Insurance Excesses
While it can be tempting when buying travel insurance to just look at the final price, it is important that you check any excesses you have to pay.
That is because some cheap policies will have very high excesses which means any claims could be very expensive despite having the insurance. Sometimes excesses are so high it might not even be worth claiming. Therefore, make sure you buy a policy that balances a good price with a reasonable excess.
Most travel insurance policies will also include different excesses for different types of claim and you can find these in your policy documentation, but generally the medical excess is the most significant.
We’re pretty unique among insurance providers in our lack of age limits and flexible levels of cover.
For that reason no matter what your age is or conditions are, you can get peace of mind from us with our comprehensive travel insurance.
FAQs
What is the best travel insurance for over 65s?
Policies will vary between providers and your own unique set of circumstances will affect what policy is right for you. However, not many insurers will cover over 65 so you should be able to narrow down your choices quite quickly.
How much does travel insurance cost for over 65s?
Insurance is likely to cost more the older you are and a pre-existing medical condition can also influence this. At the same time prices can vary considerably depending on where you are travelling and for how long. The USA and Caribbean are the most expensive destinations to buy insurance for.
However, once you have a quote the question you need to ask yourself is could you afford to go without insurance, however unlikely a claimable event might seem? Imagine if you are hospitalised for a long period of time or have to be transported back to the UK.
