Senior travel insurance
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FOR MORE ADVENTURES ON THE HORIZON, GET OVER-70S TRAVEL INSURANCE.^
Travel insurance for the over 70s is a specialist policy that’s designed to provide the right level of financial protection for you and your trip if you’re a senior traveller.
As you get older, you become more likely to experience injury and illness, so it’s important to get the right travel insurance policy before you go away.
With this extra peace of mind, your age doesn’t have to limit your travel and adventure. But if something unexpected does affect your plans, the right cover will make sure you’re protected.
Provides cover for one trip lasting up to 30 days. It'll usually cover things like medical expenses, repatriation, lost luggage and more.
Cover for multiple short trips planned within one year. It could be cheaper than buying multiple single trip policies each time you travel.
Sometimes called 'long-stay insurance', this policy covers one trip lasting from from between two to 18 months. It's useful if you're visiting multiple countries or going away for an extended amount of time.
Travel insurance provides a financial safety net for your holiday. So, if something doesn’t go to plan, it can cover the cost of:
Many over 70s travel insurance policies offer cover for pre-existing medical conditions and they’ll often provide a higher level of medical cover than standard policies.
A medical condition could make your travel insurance more expensive but it should give you peace of mind that your medical bills are covered while travelling.
Be as accurate as possible when it comes to your health - especially when it comes to more serious conditions like diabetes, heart conditions and cancer. Failure to disclose pre-existing medical conditions could leave you without the level of medical cover you need.
The cost of travel insurance can vary between insurers and will also depend on other factors like your destination and pre-existing conditions.
Average travel insurance price by age for single-trip travel insurance[2]:
Traveller age | Without pre-existing medical conditions | With pre-existing medical conditions |
---|---|---|
51-60 year-olds | £9 | £16 |
61-70 year-olds | £12 | £24 |
71-80 year-olds | £28 | £48 |
over 80 years old | £53 | £102 |
Although you can compare travel insurance that covers a range of pre-existing conditions through us, it can sometimes be more difficult to find cover for very serious health issues.
The Money Advice Service has a directory of providers that might be able to help if you struggle to find cover with mainstream insurers.
Because you’re more likely to experience medical issues or injure yourself in an accident as you get older, insurers see you as being at higher risk of making a claim.
As a result, the higher your age the more expensive your travel insurance will generally be.
For example, a 70 year old with no medical conditions could pay around £16 for single-trip travel insurance - the same cover for an 80 year old could cost, on average, 143% more at £39.[2]
Pre-existing medical conditions will also push up the price of your cover.
The main reason travel insurance costs more when you have a medical condition is because healthcare abroad is much more expensive.
However, it's not worth hiding a health issue to get cheaper insurance - because if you then need medical treatment for your condition while you're away, your insurer won’t pay out. This could leave you facing costs which could run into tens of thousands of pounds.
As well as your age and pre-existing medical conditions, there are other factors that can affect how much you’ll need to pay for travel insurance. These include:
The longer your trip, the higher your premium. Most standard policies will cover trips up to 30 or 60 days. Alternatively, you could buy a long-stay policy
Cover for destinations that are further afield, like America and Australia, will cost you more than European travel insurance
If you want cover for extra activities or sports, or need travel insurance for a cruise holiday, you’ll usually need to pay more or buy specialist cover
Your policy will have a single-item limit. So, if you’re taking valuable items on your trip, you’ll need to pay more to cover their full value
You can usually tailor your travel insurance to get any extra cover you need with policy add-ons, like gadget cover, golf cover and winter sports insurance
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Page last reviewed: 20 June 2023
Reviewed by: Jasmine Hembury
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[1]As of May 2023, there are 43 active travel insurers on the panel at theidol.com
[2]Average price purchased data recorded by theidol.com for single-trip travel insurance for those with/without medical conditions, split by age group, in April 2023.