Travel Insurance Online – what are the restrictions?

When travelling abroad, obtaining insurance is crucial. Yet this doesn’t necessarily make it simple and the travel insurance online market can often be very confusing and complicated; especially when you’re trying to get an affordable deal.

Furthermore, there are certain areas that appear very restricted when dealing with travel insurance; such as age and medical insurance. If you’re looking for such insurance, it might help to know what limitations you could face from typical policy providers as well as what plausible solutions there are to overcome this.

Medical conditions

When travelling abroad, your health is very important. As such, it’s an area that many policy providers will look into.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always in your favour. If you have any pre-existing conditions then the risk of these causing health issues whilst you are away will be taken into account and many insurance providers will use this as an excuse to increase premiums.

This is arguably because they can label it as an expected risk, even if you have the condition under control or are in disagreement about how dangerous it actually is.

Age

Your age can also be another limiting factor on travel insurance online. Older people are often targeted with expensive insurance policies if they are unaware of better options. A primary argument for this seems to suggest links between old age and medical risks. Yet older people are usually at less risk when you consider the activities they partake in when abroad.

Always stress the type of activities you intend to enjoy whilst on holiday with your insurer and remember to be fully honest. Failure to do so could invalidate your policy, leaving you without protection.

Custom insurance solutions

Thankfully, there are custom insurance options available to cater to people who may face problems from the above. In the case of travel insurance online, there is suitable travel insurance for over 80s with medical conditions. This takes into account the different requirements of the older traveller and offers an affordable solution that does not sacrifice on protection.

These policies are often tailored to specific needs and, thus, a specific audience. They break the typical limitations and reward older travellers with competitive insurance excess fees and premiums.

As stated above, it is important that you are completely honest with your insurance provider and obtain cover which matches your situation perfectly. Shopping around for the best quotes is also recommended and will help you to obtain peace of mind over your protection whilst still looking after your finances.

Additional protection

Of course, travel insurance is not the only form of protection you can invest in when travelling. If planning to holiday in the EU, always carry a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). These are free to obtain and cover you in a number of countries within the EU.

The card does not necessarily entitle you to free medical treatment in these countries but instead provides you with the same level of care afforded to local citizens. This means you don’t pay higher costs because you’re a tourist and if healthcare is free for locals then it will be free for you too.