Finding the cheapest travel insurance for over 65s

Older holidaymakers are forced to pay up to three times more for their travel insurance, so it’s essential you find the most competitive deal around.

The problem is that travel insurance best buy tables are based on quotes for under-65s, meaning they can be misleading to older customers.

So you need to take the time to compare prices at the various providers, or alternately punch your details into a site like Insurancewide, which scours the market for you. Sites like this are particularly useful if you need a tailored quote, for example if you have a medical condition.

If you can’t be bothered with the hassle and you’re just looking for a bog standard policy, then take a look at the tables below, which provide quotes from the major insurers.

Travel insurance for a couple aged 65-69

Travel insurance for a couple aged 70-74

Never simply upgrade to an annual policy
The above tables highlight a couple of important points to keep in mind when shopping around.

Firstly, if you find a competitive single trip policy, don’t assume the same insurer will also offer you the cheapest annual policy.

Columbus may be the cheapest provider for customers aged 66-69 looking for single trip cover, but is actually the second most expensive for a multi-trip policy. If you want to look for a different type of policy, start your search from scratch or you could end up paying far more than you need to.

What those age thresholds
Travel cover tends to be an ageist business. While you may see much of a difference between 69 years old and 70, to travel insurers this is a massive leap (which they reflect in their premiums).

Based on the eight providers above, the average price of a single trip policy for under 70s is £52.51, but for 70 to 74-year olds it jumps to £62.28 – a difference of nearly 20%/

Generally speaking, insurers tend to split customers older than 65 into five year age groups –65-69, 70- 74, and so on.

So even though you obtained the cheapest possible quote last time round, if you fall into a different threshold it’s essential you shop around once again or you could pay far more than necessary. For example, Direct Line is cheapest for under-69s, but second most expensive for 70-74-year olds.

It will cost more, but…
There’s no getting around it: When you reach a certain age you will have to pay more for travel insurance – regardless of whether you’re fitter than most thirty year olds out there, age is key.

That doesn’t mean you have to be ripped off, though. There are a number of deals out there that still offer decent value for money, it’s just that they’re a bit harder to find than for the under 65s market, so you’ll need to shop smarter.

But with age comes wisdom, that shouldn’t be a problem.