Our Pick Of The Best Travel Insurance Providers For Seniors

Our editorial team has complete control over analysing and rating the travel insurance policies you’re reading about today. We don’t aim to evaluate every policy on the market, but we go to great lengths to extensively research and report on the most popular choices among consumers.

To find the best travel insurance for seniors, we meticulously assessed the desirable policy attributes for this kind of insurance customer across 17 datapoints. These factors are weighted to reflect the importance of each. The four most important factors considered were limits around age, death and disability cover, unlimited medical cover and cruise cover.

As mentioned, we didn’t include price in this assessment, as quotes vary between travellers based on a huge range of factors, from their holiday itinerary to optional extras they want included and health and medical histories. Each of the elements we considered when finding the most senior-friendly travel insurance providers are outlined below.

• Emergency Assistance: Does the policy offer a 24-hour medical or emergency hotline?
• Credit card fraud: If you fall victim to credit card fraud while travelling, will your credit card be replaced and any stolen funds reimbursed?
• Pre-existing medical conditions: Does the policy cover pre-existing medical conditions, and are you required to undergo a medical assessment to be covered for these? The more conditions automatically covered, the better.
• Lost luggage: Will your lost luggage be covered? Higher overarching limits and extra flexibility to increase sub limits scores extra points.
• Cancellations: Does the policy cover cancellation fees, and what is the limit or any sub-limits?
• Cruise cover: Is cruise cover included as standard or can you add it on?
• Online discounts: Are there any discounts on offer?
• Maximum age covered: What is the maximum age covered in the comprehensive policy? Having no age restrictions is ideal, but otherwise the higher the better.
• Cover for medical expenses: Is it unlimited or is there a set total price for the medical expenses covered?
• Cover for dental expenses: Does the policy cover emergency dental work overs overseas? If so, is a limit specified?
• Covid cover: Is cover for expenses that arise from events and illnesses related to COVID-19 included in the policy? If so, what does this include, and are there any limits?
• Cover for children and grandchildren travelling with you: Are grandchildren or children covered for free under this policy? If they are, what terms and conditions must your family members meet to qualify?
• Personal liability: If you unintentionally injure someone else or damage their property, what is the maximum personal liability expense that the insurance company will pay out?
• Funeral costs: Are funeral costs covered, and up to what price? Limits on repatriation of remains from overseas should be considered here if they’re not included under a different policy point.
• Accidental death: What is the claim limit if the worst were to occur and you pass away from unforeseeable circumstances while travelling?
• Accidental disability: If you are permanently disabled after an accident while on holiday, what’s the maximum monetary support you can access?
• Customer service: What level of customer support does the insurance company offer? This could include live online chat and phone services, with these channels being available on weekends or outside business hours midweek.

About Star Rankings

You will note that we have included a star rating next to each product or provider. This rating was determined by the editorial team once all of the data points above were considered, and the pros and cons of each product attribute was reviewed. The star rating is solely the view of Forbes Advisor editorial staff. Commercial partners or advertisers have no bearing on the star rating or their inclusion on this list. Star ratings are only one factor to be considered, and Forbes Advisor encourages you to seek independent advice from an authorised financial adviser in relation to your own financial circumstances and investments before you decide to choose a particular financial product or service.

Featured Partners

1

Fast Cover Travel Insurance

Get a Fast Quote

On Fast Cover’s Secure Website

Medical cover

Unlimited, 24/7 Emergency Assistance

Cancellations

Unlimited, (Trip Disruption $50,000)

Key Features

25-Day Cooling Off Period, Australian Based Call Centre, 4.6 Star Product Review Rating

2

Cover-More Travel Insurance

Get a Quick Quote

On Cover-more’s secure website

Medical cover

Unlimited, with a $2000 limit to dental

Cancellations

Yes, amount chosen by customer

3

Southern Cross Travel Insurance (Comprehensive)

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Age Limit

Unlimited

Option of Cruise Cover

Yes

Unlimited medical

Yes (some sub limits apply)

When you search for seniors travel insurance online, you can find specialised policies for people over a certain age. Many insurance companies that offer these define ‘senior’ as being over 75. However, some will have a higher minimum age and others will impose age-based coverage restrictions for anyone over 55.

The majority of travel insurance companies don’t provide tailored seniors cover, and instead recommend their comprehensive travel insurance policies to older travellers. These policies often have very high or even no age restrictions, and can cover a range of complex health and travel needs.

When our research team scoured the market to find travel insurance policies best suited to seniors, we analysed comprehensive offerings to assess how generous they were for seniors. Age limits, cover for unlimited medical expenses and the availability of cruise cover, a popular option among retirees, were all key considerations.

Remember: You will note that ForbesAdvisor has not analysed price as one of its metrics as this varies wildly between insurers and depends on a number of individual variables. Age is one of these variables, and, as a whole, senior travellers can expect to pay higher premiums for travel insurance. As always, it’s important to check the fine print so you know what you are, and aren’t, covered for.

While every travel insurance provider may offer different levels of coverage under different names, there are usually three types of international travel insurance: basic, essentials and comprehensive. The cost of travel insurance will change depending on the option you chose, with basic usually the cheapest and comprehensive the most expensive.

Speaking broadly, this is what the three policy tiers generally cover:

Basic: A policy under the basic banner will usually cover things like overseas emergency medical and hospital expenses, unavoidable cancellations, replacing lost or damaged luggage, and personal liability for if you accidentally injure someone or damage their property. Basic policies often come with age restrictions, so may not be suitable for seniors.

Essentials: This is generally a mid-range policy that includes everything covered by basic travel insurance, as well as cover for some riskier activities or higher benefit limits. Similarly, an essentials policy may not be open to people over a certain age.

Comprehensive: If you’re after all of the essentials, higher benefit limits, and more cover for a wider range of activities, then a comprehensive travel insurance policy may fit the bill. Many travel insurance companies may not offer a policy explicitly for seniors, but their comprehensive options—which usually cover broader medical care and have higher or no age limit—will suit most senior travellers.

If you’re travelling within the bounds of Australia, domestic travel insurance could also be useful. However, the inclusions and coverage in these policies aren’t always relevant to international travel insurance, and so shouldn’t be compared alongside the policies listed below.

Choosing an insurance policy is personal, as it depends on factors like your age, your health needs, the belongings you want protected while travelling and your specific holiday plans. So, you should always consider policies in line with your personal and financial circumstances. However, there are a few common elements of travel insurance that seniors should consider when comparing policies:

Unlimited medical, hospital and emergency cover: You’ll find many comprehensive policies list unlimited cover for overseas medical expenses. This is a vital component of travel insurance, as you can’t predict if you’ll encounter emergency health situations and the cost of treatment may be very high in some countries, especially America. Keep an eye out for any limits around dental expenses and hospital compensation limits.

Automatic cover for pre-existing medical conditions: Some policies will automatically cover a number of common illnesses and injuries, while others will ask you to apply for coverage for all existing medical conditions (or a combination of both). In both cases, your medical history will need to meet certain criteria for that condition to be covered. Having more conditions automatically covered by a policy makes the application process smoother for seniors with complex health needs, and means the insurance provider probably isn’t increasing premiums based on the your health status.

Cover for children and grandchildren you’re travelling with. Many comprehensive policies will provide cover for your children and grandchildren if they’re travelling with you at no extra cost. This is great for families, but usually comes with some caveats. Kids and grandkids will often need to be travelling with you for 100% of your trip to get coverage, will need to be under a certain age (often 25 or younger), and can’t be working full-time. Be sure to check your family meets all the criteria before assuming any extra travellers are covered under your policy.

Cruise cover: Cruising the globe is a popular adventure for many older travellers, but it comes with risks like any other activity. Things like on-board medical treatment, incidents that happen on shore-trips and medical evacuations from cruise liners can be extremely expensive, and they generally aren’t covered by a standard policy. Many comprehensive policies offer cruise cover as an optional extra to add onto your policy, and some include it as standard in coverage. If you’re headed for the high seas, investigate which option suits you best.

No age limits, age-based excesses or benefit exclusions: Many senior-specific travel insurance policies or comprehensive policies will allow people of all ages to take out insurance, which is essential for older travels. Keep an eye out for any additional excesses that may be applied to older travellers when making a claim, or any activities or pre-existing conditions that won’t be covered if your age exceeds the insurance company’s cap.

People over the age of 75 can take out travel insurance, but not every provider or policy will cover you. Basic policies usually have an age cap at 75 (or sometimes even lower), so seniors over 75 will need to take out comprehensive travel insurance or specific policies tailored to seniors.

Make sure you carefully examine the product disclosure statement (PDS) of each policy for any specific activities or benefits that have age restrictions or limits, as this can vary considerably between providers.

In every PDS, you’ll find a long list of pre-existing medical conditions that are or are not covered. While every policy is different, having certain health conditions may disqualify you from travel insurance cover at any age.

However, many common pre-existing conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, asthma and some heart conditions are automatically covered in many policies. This means if you make a claim that’s directly or indirectly related to these conditions, your insurance provider will likely cover you assuming you met the criteria for the claim.

Be sure to check any criteria around these conditions related to changes in medication, recent surgeries or other complications. And remember: some policies may apply age limits for specific conditions which they do cover. For example, older asthmatics often won’t be automatically covered, while younger travellers with the condition will.

Some providers allow you to apply for cover of pre-existing medical conditions that aren’t on the pre-approved list. You’ll generally need to undergo a medical assessment to apply, and if approved, you’ll likely be charged an extra premium or higher excess for the coverage.

Many seniors and comprehensive travel insurance policies will include cover for any of your children and grandchildren joining your travels. This is generally included as standard, but comes with strict criteria that your family must meet in order for them to be covered by your policy. In many cases, children and grandchildren are required to be:

• Travelling with you for 100% of your trip
• Under a certain age (often 25 or even younger)
• Not working full-time and, in some cases, be financially dependent on you

Younger travellers may have different travel insurance needs from seniors, so it’s important to ensure your policy covers everything that might impact your kids or grandkids while they’re travelling with you. And if your family continues their journey when you head home, they will need to take out their own insurance for the remainder of their trip in order to be covered.

All travel insurance policies have a number of activities or situations that aren’t covered, no matter your age. Seniors should always read policy documents carefully to see if there are any additional age restrictions on things like adventure sports or certain pre-existing medical conditions.

Some exclusions will be outside your control, but there are other actions you can take that may void your cover. Common seniors travel insurance exclusions include:

• Any pre-existing condition which has not been declared, whether it’s automatically covered or not.
• Any expenses caused by asthma if you’re over 60 (a common age-based medical restriction).
• If you are involved in any illegal activity.
• If you’re under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the relevant event.
• Travelling to a destination with Smartraveller warnings under a ‘do not travel’ classification.
• If you take part in risky activities that aren’t covered by your policy, like snow sports or high-altitude hiking.
• Anything that happens on a cruise ship if cruise cover is not included in your policy (either as an automatic inclusion or added as an optional extra).
• Pandemics and epidemics, unless specifically outlined in your policy, which you’ll find is often the case with expenses related to Covid-19.

There are numerous travel insurance options available to seniors, no matter your age nor your ability. The key to finding a suitable policy for you is in the fine print.

As you’re researching and comparing policies, be sure to pore over policy documents for limits to cover, specific age-based restrictions, options for additional cover versus automatic inclusions, and any policy features which will best suit the kind of international holiday you’re taking.