Insurance hard to find for over-60s

Q - I turned 80 this year and find, like others, that travel insurance has more than doubled overnight.
The risks are obvious but I cannot comprehend why we are limited to 35 days’ cover each time.
I would have thought there was more risk cavorting back and forth to complete our four-month stay at our maison secondaire?

A - FOR whatever reason, many travel insurers simply draw the line at anyone aged over 65 – and once you pass 50 you see premiums become heftier and the conditions more and more strict.

With more than nine million over-65s in the UK, insurers would seem to be missing a trick – but some have cottoned on to the market and realised that healthier life-styles and medical advances can mean healthy OAPs.

Insurers’ main fear is over expensive medical claims, but some offer cover – albeit for limited periods – that includes major ailments but not some other conditions.

Some airlines, too, offer travel insurance with no age limits – but, for obvious commercial reasons, limit the length of stay.

Time limits exist because insurance underwriters lose money if clients fall severely ill – shorter periods equal less risk of losing money.

As for finding policies for yourself, the internet is the easiest and cheapest way to find what is available. Insurance brokers will charge you, but should be able to help.

A search on Google for “travel insurance over 70” gave four replies, for instance.

The first, for Staysure, has a long-stay policy covering people up to the age of 85 for up to 90 days – for under £100 – and it has sister companies dealing with expat insurance and medical issues.