Travel Insurance Premiums Step Up The Cost Of Aging

Written by Editorial Team

17 April 2007

Older people could find their travel insurance premiums suddenly soar with the passing years, Moneysupermarket.com has warned.

The structure of insurance cover implies that the risk of accident or loss becomes much more acute almost overnight, charging 66-year-olds twice as much as 65-year-olds, and 70-year-olds almost as much again.

On the day they turn 66, many older people will find their premiums double, as they enter a new age band.

A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers told the Guardian: “It’s a fact of life that the older you are the more likely you are to make a claim, and for a higher amount.”

But these “overnight premium shocks” cannot be “a fair reflection of an individual’s increased risk of making a claim”, Richard Mason, Moneysupermarket.com’s director of insurance, argued.

When taking out an annual multi-trip travel insurance policy with no pre-existing medical conditions, the top premium a 65-year-old will be charged is £35.42, whereas a friend just one year older would pay £88.64.

The onus must lie with insurers to “smooth out” the steep climb in insurance charges as people age, Mr Mason urged.

Find out more about travel insurance for pensioners