U.K.: Travel Insurance - Have cover, will Travel

The right insurance policy is out there whatever your age, activity or destination, says Laura Howard LONDON, England (Guardian), June 4, 2008: For many hard-working Britons a summer holiday will be seen as a luxury this year rather than just a fixture on the calendar. After all, the middle of the credit crunch is not a good time to fork out even the average cost of a family break which, if you travel during the school term time to Florida, Orlando, for example, will set you back £3,109, according to recent research by Morgan Stanley. But this kind of sum could pale into insignificance if anything were to go wrong on your trip and you weren't adequately insured. For example, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) says it costs a staggering £35,000 for an air ambulance from the east coast of America back to the UK, and between £12,000 and £16,000 from the Canary Islands. So travel insurance is a must, but even with the best intentions some people will find they are simply not accepted for a standard policy. But there are solutions … If you are ill "One of the most common reasons for being refused is if you have a pre-existing medical condition," says Peter Gerrard, head of insurance research at Moneysupermarket.com. "But if this refusal is a response to an online application, it might not be that you are ineligible. Instead, the insurer may just require some additional underwriting from you, which can be carried out over the phone." If you are refused again, however, it could be time to turn to a niche travel insurer. Free Spirit and Medici are among those designed for travellers with pre-existing conditions - although Gerrard adds it is vital you get clarification upfront whether your particular condition is included in the policy. Naturally, the premium for this kind of travel insurance will be more expensive, but the extent of the price difference will depend on the severity of your pre-existing condition. "If you have well-managed asthma, for example, it might be that your bargain £9 travel cover for a week costs £9.50 instead," says Kelly Ostler spokesperson at the Association of British Insurers (ABI). "But premiums for serious conditions like terminal cancer or a heart problem will be a lot higher as treatment abroad will be more expensive, as will the cost of getting you and your family home." If you are older Another common cause for a standard travel insurance rejection is your age. And, like a pre-existing medical condition, this is also something you cannot do much about. According to Intune, a provider of financial products and services for older consumers and owned by Help the Aged, 97% of travel insurance policies impose an upper age limit. But this can vary. Just under three-quarters (73%) of normal insurers won't cover those aged 75 and over, while a quarter won't cover those aged 65 or over. In short, travellers aged 80 plus are unlikely to find any standard cover at all. Stuart Castledine, managing director of Intune, says the reason for this is insurers' perceived higher likelihood of claims. And while this may be true, a recent spike in the number of older people now travelling should counter the risk. "Customers over 85 are eight times more likely to make a travel insurance claim than customers 35 and under - and those over 65 are three times more likely," Castledine says. "However, the volume of enquiries we are receiving from older people suggests that insurance providers who cannot accommodate their needs are missing out on a significant business opportunity." Until that changes older travellers can go direct to specific insurance providers such as Saga or Intune's own travel insurance policy, which has no upper age limit and covers a raft pre-existing medical conditions. If you are into extreme sports As well as your health and age, a standard travel insurer may also balk at what you intend to get up to while overseas. For example, most insurers, including Marks & Spencer and Norwich Union, exclude dangerous sports from their travel policies, although what this term actually constitutes varies. It is vital you disclose any sport or activity you will do while away, and if you find you aren't covered there are specialist insurers that will do the job. Dogtag, for example, sells cover that is tailor-made to activities such as scuba diving to depths of more than 30 metres (the cut off point for most standard insurers), bungee jumping, and even expeditions up Mount Everest. But even this provider will not cover activities such as Base jumping or free-style skiing. If you are travelling to extreme destinations You might also be refused standard travel cover for holidays to certain destinations, and these are likely to be the ones where you need it most. In fact, with certain tour operators you might not be able to travel without it. For example, Condor Journeys and Adventures, a UK company that organises excursions to the north pole, checks that each of its brave voyagers has appropriate cover purchased from their home country before it will sign them up. PJ Hayman is a specialist insurer that offers cover for extreme destinations, including the Artic, for as little as £78 a fortnight. "For 10 years we have been offering cover for anything or anywhere that doesn't fit the box," explains director Peter Hayman. "This includes trans-Atlantic rowing, and jumping off or climbing up almost anything." © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008