Whether they’re 18 or 80, everyone who travels needs travel insurance, be it a standalone policy or credit card travel insurance*. Kiwi travellers have found themselves racking up tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of bills in hospital care and repatriation for accidents and illnesses overseas.
Some recent claims that Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) paid out on included: $41,000 for an 80-year-old who slipped on a wet marble floor getting out of a hotel shower in Italy, and a 69-year-old who fell backwards at his hotel, injuring his back. The emergency air ambulance and hospital care added up to $256,959. It’s not limited to age. A 10-year-old who had a skiing accident in the US had a $406,000 claim.
The problem for some potential travellers is premiums for travel insurance policies often get more expensive as a person ages. Credit card travel insurance generally has an upper age limit for free cover, and anyone over 75 or 80 has to pay extra to be covered. The BNZ Platinum card travel insurance, for example, has an upper age of 75 as standard, although travellers can pay from $100 to get cover over that age.
Just how old someone can be and still get travel insurance cover is quite surprising. SCTI insured a 103-year-old for overseas travel in the past few years.
Whether it’s standalone or credit card cover, pre-existing conditions need to be declared and an additional premium paid. Pre-existing means something someone has experienced symptoms of, even if the actual condition hasn’t been diagnosed, it’s under control with medication, or there is no need for medication.
Allianz sales director David Wallace recommended older travellers go through a screening process where they answer questions that might identify pre-existing conditions. This helps policyholders make sure they’re covered and don’t accidentally fail to declare something that leads to a declined claim. Customers can do that with both standalone and credit card travel insurance. Allianz offers both types of policies.
Being assessed and paying the extra premium is well worth it. Falling ill overseas can be a very costly business. The risk of not having travel insurance is too great.
Travel insurance for older people isn’t cheap, and realistically some people won’t be able to afford it, which means they can’t travel. Given what can go wrong on trips, anyone who can’t afford travel insurance can’t afford to travel, said Wallace.
The cost of travel insurance for older people isn’t always off the scale. To put the cost into perspective, one 81-year-old currently travelling for six weeks in Germany paid $1400 for WorldCare Travel Insurance underwritten by Allianz. The premium included an additional $147 premium to cover Parkinson’s disease, which was a pre-existing condition. The policy had unlimited medical cover, baggage, cancellation, and all the regular risks covered by travel insurance. Like any policy at any age, travellers need to read it carefully, said Wallace.
One option for people trying to reduce premiums is to get international medical cover only. SCTI offers this sort of cover, for people who feel they want the security of medical cover overseas but could forgo cover for lost belongings and travel disruption. It means, however, they’re not covered for rare but possible risks such as hijacking or hire car excesses that are covered by some comprehensive and credit card policies.
An online quote from SCTI for an 81-year-old travelling for one month to Thailand and Vietnam before declaring pre-existing conditions cost $495.82 for international medical only. The equivalent fully comprehensive policy was $876.02. Frequent travellers could pay $1329.33 for annual cover with a maximum duration of 30 days per trip, or $1621.13 for 90 days per trip. Additional premiums would need to be paid for pre-existing conditions.
People who plan to travel for more than 12 months or to work while overseas, even as a volunteer, should get specialist advice. Expatriate and long-term OE cover is available, although being of an older age could make it problematic. An independent insurance adviser who specialises in this type of cover can make recommendations.
*Anyone looking to use credit card travel insurance needs to make sure the cover is activated each trip. That usually means paying for the travel using the card in question.
