Sharp increase in annual travel insurance for over 65s

A new report has revealed that people over the age of 65 are increasingly inclined to travel abroad.

Age Concern Enterprises said that annual worldwide travel insurance take-up increased by 41 per cent last year, which demonstrates the willingness of older people to spend a longer time away from home.

In addition, the number requesting winter sports cover also climbed by 20 per cent as an increasing amount of older people plan winter adventure holidays.

The report has also revealed that older Brits are becoming wiser in finding the best travel deals.

It is claimed that over-65s are using the internet more often to unearth the best travel deals and the cheapest prices.

Joe Young from Age Concern Insurance Services said that travelling allows people to find joy and excitement during their retirement.

He added: "Our Travel Insurance was specifically designed with the mature traveller in mind, as appropriate products for this market were not previously available."

The Post Office recently (24th Janaury) advised people attending the Winter Olympics to check that their insurance policy covers them for travel in Canada.

Don't skimp on travel insurance

Holidaymakers are being reminded of the importance of suitable travel insurance for any trip they make.

Trying to save money by not taking out travel insurance is a false economy, warns Sean Tipton, spokesperson at ABTA - The Travel Association.

He urges travellers to carefully consider travel insurance and ensure they take out cover that suits their needs.

Factors such as the excess payable, which medical expenses are covered and any exclusions should be checked.

"It's unlikely you are going to need [a multimillion-pound level of cover] but that's the point of insurance, you're covering yourself for the worst case scenario," he commented.

Its specialist insurance options ensure your exact needs are understood and all eventualities are covered.

'Carry cash and cards' may be good advice for travel insurance customers

Holidaymakers hoping to avoid making a travel insurance claim after a trip overseas may wish to heed the advice of the Post Office and carry both cash and cards.

Reliance on notes and coins could mean that, in the event of a theft or loss, all of the holiday budget has been wiped out and a travel insurance claim is imminent.

By spreading the risk, travellers are less likely to encounter such issues.

"When travelling abroad we would always recommend that travellers cover all eventualities by taking a mix of foreign currency together with plastic," said Sarah Munro, the Post Office's head of travel services.

She added that using a pre-paid card could further limit the emphasis on carrying notes around a foreign land.

More than half of Britons heading on holiday this year will take local currency, according to recent research by Santander, while just 15 per cent will opt for a debit card.

Travel with peace of mind is just what doctor ordered

IT IS one of the busiest times of year for holiday bookings but many Scots with pre-existing medical conditions will see their plans scuppered by problems obtaining travel insurance.

There are an estimated 1.8 million people in the UK living with some form of cancer, 2.5 million with heart disease and millions with other health issues. And with life expectancy rising and diagnostics improving, the number of people surviving serioADVERTISEMENTus illnesses is rising all the time.

For those with – or who have previously suffered from – serious health problems, finding affordable travel insurance is often a frustrating battle, even when they have long since had the all-clear.

Two in five people affected by cancer are quoted higher travel insurance premiums and about one in 13 travels without insurance at all, according to Macmillan Cancer Support. And 41 per cent of Genetic Interest Group members find it difficult to obtain travel insurance, the charity reported last year.

There are two main issues surrounding travel insurance for people with pre-existing conditions – getting any cover at all and, if cover is possible, securing an affordable deal.

Insurers deal with claims from people with pre-existing conditions in several ways. They may provide the normal level of cover but with a higher premium or excess; they may agree to some degree of insurance but with exclusions (such as claims relating to the condition or illness) and a higher premium; or they will refuse to insure you.

Some people no longer in treatment continue to be barred from cover – or are quoted higher premiums – as insurers consider those with pre-existing medical conditions as more likely to fall ill while on holiday, even if they have been given a doctor's green light.

Mike Hobday, head of campaigns at Macmillan, said there was little consistency in the way in which different insurers serve cancer patients.

"Not all insurers share the same business model and people go through a dreadful, frustrating process of phoning company after company and getting turned down," said Hobday. "You can't expect every company to serve everyone, but even people out of treatment can find it difficult to get cover."

Where insurers do agree to provide cover, it is often extortionate. There are companies that will provide more affordable cover, but getting a reasonable quote can be a lot of hard work. And while there are companies that specialise in high-risk customers – including Free Spirit, Travel Insured and Insure Pink – the cost is rarely competitive.

"We are staggered by the discrepancy in the quotes a person can get for the same trip from different insurers – up to tenfold in some cases," said Hobday.

This is partly because some mainstream insurers have failed to update their risk models in accordance with advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other critical conditions, he added. "Any price set 12 months ago is higher than it needs to be because companies are slow to recognise that cancer patients are not as risky as they had previously thought."

There are steps you can take find affordable travel insurance, although the extent and price of the cover will vary depending on the severity of your condition. The key is to shop around. "If you are a few years out of treatment you ought to get a decent price from a mainstream insurer," said Hobday. "If you are at an advanced stage of cancer you are going to pay more, but some companies specialise in high-risk consumers."

10 Things to Know About Travel Insurance

With travel insurance, as with life or a box of chocolates, you sometimes never know what you’re gonna get. But if you’re mindful of the basics, it can be a lot more predictable than you might think.

Know if you even need it.

Review your existing insurance and credit card benefits to see if they already cover emergency medical care, lost or delayed baggage, or trip interruption/cancellation. If you don’t already have such coverage for a trip and are wondering if you need it, “ask yourself what made you want to look into [insurance]” for that trip, says travel insurance agent Damian Tysdal of Travel Insurance Review. If a trip’s expensive, he says, “and you’re planning it eight months down the road, a lot of things can happen between now and then. And if it’s more than you feel comfortable losing, you should ensure that amount.”

Decide how much risk you’re comfortable taking as a traveler and break out the numbers, especially when considering trip cancellation coverage, says travel writer Lisa Oppenheimer. “To me, it's a math equation: how much does the policy cost and how much do you stand to get back vs. the cost of the trip?” she says. Booking her trip pieces separately, versus buying a package, helps her control her costs. “Flight tickets can generally be changed up to the day of departure, albeit with a change or rebooking free. Hotels usually will charge you one night's stay if you don't show up. I don't tend to book group tours. So, in my case, if I didn't go, the sum total of rebooking fees and penalties would still probably cost less than or maybe the same as the travel insurance I'm always offered.”

Know your seller.

You can buy travel insurance directly from an insurance agent or a traditional travel agent, through an online travel agency, airline, travel company, credit card company, or any number of other vendors. No one type of vendor is uniformly better than the other. As you shop around for coverage, note that the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (USTIA) ranks insurers in good standing. There are also several travel insurance comparison sites out there including SquareMouth and InsureMyTrip.com.

Be sure what you’re buying is actually insurance and not a waiver plan, urges travel insurance agent Steve Dasseos of travel insurance comparison site TripInsuranceStore.com. A pre-departure waiver plan from a travel supplier is “more a promise to pay in certain circumstances,” he says, but since it’s not actually insurance your state’s insurance department can’t help you if you have a dispute.

Also good to know is who “wrote” your insurance. Tysdal observes that many vendors will sell travel insurance as an extra revenue stream while not necessarily being the underwriter responsible for honoring any insurance claim you’d hope to file. If your seller didn’t write the policy, ask who did.

Know your limitations.

Your travel insurance policy ought to come with a certificate of insurance that lists the limitations and exclusions associated with your coverage, says USTIA president Mike Ambrose. “When you read through the limitations and exclusions you’ll get a good understanding of what they’ll cover and what they won’t,” he says. The certificate will get specific, too. Damage to natural teeth might be covered, damage to false teeth, maybe not. Or, scuba diving mishaps might be covered, but only up to a certain depth. And a favorite exclusion, Tysdal says, are any accidents caused by the insured being intoxicated.

Know the rest.

-If you get sick or hurt before or during your trip, get to a doctor, otherwise the insurance company won’t believe your story, Dasseos says. “Here’s how the policies typically read: ‘For trip cancellation benefits, an actual exam by a licensed physician must take place before the cancellation is made. For trip interruption benefits, this exam must take place during your trip.’”

-If you caught swine flu on a trip and a doctor confirmed you have it, it would fall under any medical coverage you bought. But if you back out of your trip because you’re afraid of getting H1N1 or, Dasseos suggests, “you get a new job and your boss won't let you have the time off,” that is not covered by trip cancellation insurance. If you want to be able to cancel your trip for any reason, you can buy a “Cancel for Any Reason” policy that’s generally 30-50% more expensive than other coverage, Ambrose says.

-Speaking of jobs, a relatively new provision in many policies is that you can cancel a trip without penalty if you’re fired. And in a sign of the times, some providers only require a year of continuous employment, versus three.

-If you have a pre-existing medical condition you may be able to waive your policy’s pre-existing medical condition exclusion if you buy your insurance within a certain period after paying for your trip, prove you’re “medically stable” when buy the coverage, and, in the case of many providers, insure the full cost and length of your trip, Dasseos says.

-Many claims don’t go through the first time because the insurance company is missing documentation, Ambrose says.”Make sure they have received the information and that that is all they need,” he says. Dasseos also urges keeping copies of any paperwork you submit.

-Lost or delayed baggage insurance covers the outbound leg of your journey but seldom pays off if your bag disappears on the way home, as the insurance company sees it as less of an inconvenience. This coverage is meant to replace “necessities you need on the trip that you now have to buy, Tysdal says, though Ambrose observes that some lost baggage policies have a provision that if your bag is lost on your homebound leg “you should go back to your common [insurance] carrier or your airline and if they didn’t make good on your loss, than the travel insurance policy should.”

-If anything you pack is worth more than either what a lost baggage policy will cover or exceeds the maximum liability an airline will assume for a lost bag -- usually $2,500 -- you can buy excess valuation coverage at the airline check-in counter, Dasseos says. It’s not insurance, “but it will increase the carrier’s potential liability,” he says, and most airlines will charge a buck per $100 of extra coverage, usually capping their maximum liability at five grand. Airlines may refuse to sell you the coverage if your items are too valuable or breakable, Dasseos adds. In which case, you might want to question why you’re flying with them at all.

Common airline mishaps and how insurance might help

Will travel insurance come to the rescue if something bad happens on your next airplane trip?

The answer, airfarewatchdog.com has found, is not always.

It’s a good idea to ask about some common (and not so common) travel snafu scenarios when you call to investigate different policies. By asking some specific questions, you'll make a better decision and won't be surprised if your air travel mishap falls outside the protective umbrella of your insurance.

That said, the majority of travel insurance claims are paid, and the most common reason is illness (either of the primary insured or a traveling companion or close relative).

But there are many other mishaps besides illness that trip up travelers, judging from the e-mail Airfarewatchdog.com has seen from woebegone airline passengers over the years. So we came up with eight things that can go bump in the flight, and then asked three of the major travel insurance agencies what they would do, if anything, to protect you.

How about if a tractor trailer rolls over just in front of you on your way to the airport, or you get a flat tire, causing you to miss your flight, and then on top of that, the airline tells you to buy a new last minute fare to Paris for $2,500? Stuff like this does happen.

Some insurance plans will only protect you if you buy a more expensive “cancel-for-any-reason” policy, but some of those require you to cancel at least 48 hours in advance, so no go. Travel insurer Travel Guard’s “platinum” policy includes coverage for such an accident scenario, but only if you provide a police report. Their less expensive policies might not protect you, however.

Here’s another one from our e-mail inbox: airport workers in Rome go on strike, so you’re out a $300 non-refundable airfare to Paris and have to take the train instead. Can you get reimbursed for both the airfare and train ticket?

CSA Travel Protection says yes to the train, but no to the airfare. Access America tells us that you’re covered only by a “cancel anytime” plan, which costs quite a bit more than regular insurance. Travel Guard, however, says you’d be covered as long as you bought the insurance before the airport workers voted to go on strike.

A third, all-too-common, scenario: your airline contacts you to say that they no longer fly to where you’re going and they’ll be happy to refund your money, but now flights to your destination on a competing airline cost an arm and a leg.

Sorry, none of the insurance companies we contacted will cover your added expenses.

And so it goes. Different insurers cover various travel snafus in different ways, and in general the more you pay for a policy, as in Travel Guard’s platinum product, the more protection you’re likely to get.

To see some other common and not so common travel mishaps (such as airline bankruptcy and missed connections) and how you might — or might not — be covered by competing travel insurers, consult our travel insurance snafu chart.

Again, whenever you buy insurance, don’t buy blindly: call the company’s 800 number to make sure you understand relevant provisos and exclusions, and read the contract’s fine print.

For example, most companies will fully cover you if you or a traveling companion becomes ill before departure, but they may not tell you that you must seek medical attention (a doctor’s office or emergency room visit) before canceling your trip.

And while most companies provide “cancellation” insurance, that doesn’t apply if you buy a biking trip through Provence and the tour company cancels the departure because not enough people sign up, leaving you with a useless $1,000 airfare.

The more you know before buying, the better prepared you’ll be to face whatever air travel throws at you.

Thai backpackers top insurance list

Backpackers taking trips to Thailand top the list of those making travel insurance claims, it has been revealed.

Claims following Thailand visits account for 22% of all backpackers' claims, according to InsureandGo.

The company added that British backpackers' claims amounted to more than £6 million a year, with personal luggage claims accounting for more than 40% of this total and medical expenses more than 33%.