How much does travel insurance for older people cost?

The inevitable and frustrating answer is that it depends. Insurers take into account a long list of factors to give you a price, including the location you are travelling to and the cover you want, but also details about you like your age and medical history.

We've negotiated a 20% discount on travel insurance for over 70s from specialist provider FreeSpirt. To access the offer, join our group for Travel insurance for over 70s.

Their pricing is very complicated, such that the most competitive insurer for a 75-year-old might not be the most competitive for an 80-year-old, or even 76-year-old! This can lead to a lot of time spent shopping around and that’s why we’ve created groups to serve separate age categories.

Our groups exist to use their collective bargaining power to get access to deals they could not get another way. Joining is free so do join the group relevant to you - see the Related Offers list on the right of the page - if you’d like to get access to our deals!

Alternatively if you’d like to know more about how age can affect travel insurance costs, read on below!

How much does travel insurance cost when you are older?

Age can have a significant influence on the price of your insurance, typically when the traveller is over 50 years old:

Quotes obtained in June 2018 via www.gocompare.com. Prices represent an annual multi-trip policy for travel to Europe. We took the price of the cheapest policy that offered at least 2,500 of cover for cancellation, £1,500 of cover for personal possessions and £5m for medical emergency. Note that prices will vary depending on an individual's circumstances and should be taken as illustrative only.

These quotes did not include any medical conditions (which will raise the premium) so these are the prices for very healthy and fit older people – given the clean bill of health it seems unfair that the prices rise so much.

However, this does not need to be the case. It is in fact just a good illustration of how shopping around will help. The quotes were obtained from a price comparison site – these sites search prices from insurers who often cater for younger travellers. They avoid doing business with older travellers as they think the risks are high (have they seen what kids get up to these days!?).

How do I save money on my travel insurance when I am older?

The good news is that there are other insurers, usually not on price comparison sites, who are specialists for older travellers. They do their homework and understand the real risks of travel for older people are lower. So, they can offer a better price. Here's the same table with a specialist provider's prices added in:

Annual Worldwide multi-trip quotes obtained in June 2018 via www.gocompare.com. Specialist quotes obtained from Free Spirt - we have an offer in place with this provider which can be reached through the relevant group. Prices represent an annual multi-trip policy for travel to Europe. We took the price of the cheapest policy that offered at least 2,500 of cover for cancellation, £1,500 of cover for personal possessions and £5m for medical emergency. Note that prices will vary depending on an individual's circumstances and should be taken as illustrative only.

This specialist has chosen to focus on travellers older than 70 and is also offers £1,000 of cover for loss and damage to medical aids, £250 of cover for loss or damage to prescribed medication. Notice that their cover is cheaper for a 90-year-old than it is from a mainstream provider. However, this is just one specialist insurer - another specialist will have a different pattern of prices. It might end up that one is better for 75-year-olds, whereas the other is better for 82-year-olds. So, the most competitive offer for anyone age group is likely to be from a different insurer