According to research from Moneysupermarket Travel Insurance, retired travellers face steep insurance price hikes of over 100% on their 66th birthday with similar increases at 70. The price comparison website is pressing insurers to smooth out these sudden premium shocks to reflect the true risk of insuring individual retired travellers.

Director of insurance at Moneysupermarket.com, Richard Mason, said: "Anyone who dreams of seeing the world in their retirement will get a nasty shock after their 66th birthday and find insurers have doubled the cost of travel insurance policies. The situation gets even worse for travellers entering their seventies as the cost of cover leaps by almost as much again."

"How can these overnight premium shocks be a fair reflection of an individual?s increased risk of making a claim? Older people should not be penalised for going abroad and should be able to find fairly priced travel insurance, whatever their age."

Richard Mason added: "Many older people may have some form of pre-existing medical condition, and this should definitely not put them off arranging insurance before travelling since the risks are just too great ? and providers will cover them in most instances. Failure to disclose a pre-existing condition may mean an insurer refuses to pay out if a claim looks to be linked to this."

As an older traveller it's more crucial than ever to choose the right level of cover at the best possible price, and not be confused by the array of insurers, policies and terminology.

Moneysupermarket.com has put the following checklist together to help travellers over 65 to get the right travel insurance as quickly as possible and without any problems:

1. Your age and health

• Do you have any existing medical conditions? Failing to declare these could invalidate your policy should you need treatment whilst travelling because of this condition.


• What age will you be on the date of travel? All policies have age limits so check you will not exceed the age limit by the end of the travel period.


• Consult a doctor before you travel to ensure you understand the risk associated with your travel destination. For example, what will the climate be like and will this affect any medication you are taking?


• Ask your doctor for sufficient medications to cover the whole trip and some to cover possible delays as they may be more difficult to obtain overseas.

2. Your destination

• If you are travelling within the EU, make sure you have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). It will help to reduce any medical bills and enable travellers to receive the same medical treatment as local residents.


• Is the destination country deemed safe for travel? You may not be insured if you are travelling to a country where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised against travel. For the latest advice on countries that pose a higher risk to travellers visit www.fco.gov.uk/travel.

3. Check the small print

• Check the cancellation terms of your policy as some insurers do not include this as standard. Also check you are covered if you need to cancel your holiday because of a pre-existing condition.


• Check how much cover your policy provides. Look at the limits that the insurer will pay for each claim e.g. medical expenses.


• Will you need personal baggage cover? Many travel insurance policies do not include this as standard. But you may not need to include this if you are already covered under your home and contents policy.


• Check where your valuables should be kept. Many policy conditions insist that valuables are kept in a safe place, as defined by your insurer, otherwise you may not be covered.

Richard Mason said: ?As with any insurance policy, it?s important to scratch beneath the surface and check the small print to ensure you comply with your policy conditions. Older travellers may want to consider approaching specific organisations such as Age Concern or Help the Aged for insurance, but as always it is worth comparing these quotes to check they are competitive.?

Moneysupermarket.com recommends you take at least the following level of travel cover:

Medical expenses cover: £2 million
Personal liability cover: £1 million
Cancellation cover: £3,000
Personal baggage cover: £1,500
Cash: £250