Travel Insurance for Over 70s

A lot of older travellers face difficulties in getting travel insurance. A significant part of that is due to some insurers refusing to cover people over a certain age. This can be frustrating when you think you've found the policy for you, only to discover that you're above their maximum age limit.

That age limit can sometimes be as low as 65 (or even lower on special policies such as Backpackers insurance), but the good news is that some insurers are relaxing their attitude toward older travellers - either through an increased understanding of this market or perhaps due to the improving health of the elderly.

Furthermore, some insurers have raised their maximum ages to 70, 75, 80 or more.

What affects the maximum age for travel insurance?

Each insurer makes its own decisions about the maximum ages it will insure however the factors that can affect whether you will get cover are:

• The type of insurer you are dealing with - mainstream insurers can often have lower limits and so can insurers who focus on a younger traveller (for example Go Travel Insurance have maximum ages of 65), whereas a specialist insurer such as Ok To Travel or Free Spirit will have higher limits by design.

• Whether the policy is an annual trip or single trip (usually maximum ages are higher for single trips)

• Where you are travelling - some insurers will vary their upper age limit depending on where you go - for example, it is lower for the USA.

• How long your trip(s) are - some insurers will put a lower maximum trip duration on older customers than on younger customers, meaning you might not be able to use them if you're planning a longer trip.

How old will my insurer go?

To save you a little time, we've collected the maximum ages from various insurers and put them together here. All information was based on travel to Europe (unless otherwise stated) and should help you navigate to an insurer that can help, no matter what your age.