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Travel insurance for over 75s
Travel insurance for over 75s can cover your medical expenses, trip cancellation costs, cruises and more. Keep an eye out for any policy restrictions that apply.
Travel insurance gets more expensive as you get older, to reflect the added risk of needing to claim for health related issues and injuries.
You may find age limits apply to some of the optional add-ons to your policy, such as motorcycle cover.
About a third of travel insurers in Australia will include some COVID cover.
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What types of cover are available for over 75s?
There are a variety of travel insurance options available to over 75s. First, decide between three levels of cover:
Essentials cover. This is a mid-range level of cover that includes 24/7 emergency assistance, medical and hospital cover, trip cancellations and delays, and lost, stolen or damaged luggage and personal belongings.
Comprehensive cover. This is the highest level of cover for maximum peace of mind. As well as everything in Essentials cover, it includes cover for loss and damage to travel documents, luggage delay, theft of cash, rental vehicle excess, hospital cash allowance, personal liability, accidental death and more.
As well as three levels of cover, over 75s can choose from two types of travel insurance policies:
Single-trip. The most common type of cover, which covers you from the time you take out your policy to the time you return home.
You can also choose between domestic and overseas cover, depending on your destination.
Can I get travel insurance for over 75s with pre-existing medical conditions?
That depends. Many insurers provide automatic cover for a range of minor pre-existing conditions as well as cover for more serious conditions subject to further assessment such as a medical examination.
Generally, a pre-existing medical condition is defined by insurers as a condition that meets one or more of the following:
You are aware of it prior to applying for insurance
You are having or have had treatment for it in the past
You are treating it with prescribed medication
You previously had surgery for it.
The Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) will list the conditions that are not covered under any circumstances, such as serious illnesses, heart disease and cancer.
It’s important that you declare any pre-existing medical conditions to your insurer at the time of applying for cover. If you don’t, any medical treatment you receive overseas in relation to that condition won’t be covered.
For travel insurance over 75, some insurers will require you to complete a medical questionnaire.
What are the age restrictions of different brands?
We've done the research and found the following brands that will cover you if you're over 75 years old.
Note: This information was last updated April 2024
Apart from my age, what else impacts the cost of my cover?
While age and pre-existing medical conditions are the main determinants in how much over 75s pay for travel insurance, there are other factors that influence price as well:
Your trip. You will pay more or less for your insurance depending on the type of trip you are taking (such as a backpacker’s holiday or a guided tour), the duration of your trip, where you are travelling (some destinations are considered more dangerous than others) and what you will be doing while you are there (such as driving, riding a motorcycle or participating in risky sports or activities).
Your policy. The level of cover you opt for will also determine the price you pay, as will the benefit limits you select (the higher the limit the more expensive the policy) and the options you choose to include (cover for expensive items will cost you an additional fee).
How can I get cheap travel insurance for over 75s?
It's likely that you will pay more for travel insurance because you are over 75, so it's important to save money on your policy wherever you can, without compromising your cover. Here are some ways you can achieve this:
Buy online rather than through a travel agent or airline, as you'll probably get a discount, may find a coupon code and you won't have to pay the hefty commission that agents add to the price.
If you're planning to take more than one trip in a year, consider an annual multi-trip policy rather than taking out a separate policy each time you travel.
If you already have home and contents insurance and credit card insurance, use them to supplement your travel insurance needs.
Shop around on comparison websites for the best deal and get quotes from different insurers before settling on the best policy (not necessarily the cheapest, but the one offering the best value for money).
A handful of international travel insurance policies include cruise insurance automatically, but you should consider purchasing standalone cover if you want to take advantage of the unique benefits offered by a cruise-specific insurance policy.
As well as overseas medical cover, trip cancellations and lost or stolen baggage, the benefits of cruise-specific insurance can include:
Cover for additional expenses if you miss your cruise due to circumstances beyond your control
Reimbursement for cancelled prepaid shore excursions
A daily allowance if you are confined to your cabin for medical reasons
Cover for replacement or hire costs if your onboard formal wear is lost, stolen or damaged
Cover for flights to your cruise departure destination
Cover for the days leading up to your cruise departure and the days following your return.
One key thing to know is that, as soon as you leave Australian waters, you are typically no longer covered by Medicare. That means if you get sick and must be treated in the ship's sickbay, you'd be charged full private health care rates, which can be up to $5,000 a day. If you have to be airlifted to the nearest hospital on land, you could be up for tens of thousands of dollars.
If you have a pre-existing medical condition, you may be able to get travel insurance by following these steps:
Read the PDS to see if your condition is automatically covered.
If your condition is not listed, tell your insurer about it. You will either be declined cover or you may be required to submit further medical evidence such as a doctor's report.
If the insurer agrees to cover you after further assessment, you may need to pay an additional fee or you may be offered cover at a lower limit or with a higher excess.
If your application for cover is refused, look around and see what other insurers are offering. Each insurer is different and some even specialise in covering pre-existing medical conditions, so shop around.
In the worst-case scenario, if you can't find cover anywhere, don't let it put you off going on holidays. You can still obtain travel insurance that covers everything except your pre-existing condition.
Around one in three travel insurance brands currently offer COVID cover. Most of these policies will cover you if you or a family member can't travel due to a positive COVID test. A number of other benefits could be claimed for, if they are listed in your policy.
This article was reviewed on 30 June by James Martin. James is the insurance editor at Finder and he's written on a range of insurance and finance topics for over 7 years.
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Written by
Richard Laycock
Richard Laycock is Finder’s insights editor after spending the last five years writing and editing articles about insurance. His musings can be found across the web including on MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University and The Missouri School of Journalism and has a Tier 1 Certification in General Advice for Life Insurance. See full profile
We hold dual citizenship Aus/UK and are visiting family. We will be covered by the NHS, are not worried about theft or loss so would just like to be covered for the flights both ways, not the period in between. Is that possible?
It is possible to find flight insurance plans, as our guide explains. However, coverage will be limited only to unexpected events linked to your air travel.
It’s worth keeping in mind comprehensive travel insurance offers wide ranging cover that goes beyond the insurance types you mention above. It can also cover you for personal liability, rental car excess, tour bookings and more. You can read more on this in our guide:
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We hold dual citizenship Aus/UK and are visiting family. We will be covered by the NHS, are not worried about theft or loss so would just like to be covered for the flights both ways, not the period in between. Is that possible?
Hi Lynda,
It is possible to find flight insurance plans, as our guide explains. However, coverage will be limited only to unexpected events linked to your air travel.
It’s worth keeping in mind comprehensive travel insurance offers wide ranging cover that goes beyond the insurance types you mention above. It can also cover you for personal liability, rental car excess, tour bookings and more. You can read more on this in our guide:
I hope this helps.
Regards,
James