All you need to know about travel insurance when you are 60 plus and travelling overseas

Many of you would be making your year end travel plans to visit friends and family during the holiday season. Travel insurance is one thing most tourists take very lightly. But the importance of buying your safety net when you are on foreign shores cannot be emphasized enough. This is specially true if you are a senior citizen or are travelling with a senior. Here are some important points to know about travel insurance, if you are a senior citizen visiting a foreign country.

• Is there a cover for senior citizens? All insurance companies provide a cover for those above 60 years, but as age advances the premium increases. “This is because underwriting looks at insurance cover from the point of view of the health of the individual’’ says Lancelot Crasto, ex-head corporate insurance Tata Steel and now Associate Partner New Age Secure Insurance Marketing LLP. Some companies like Tata AIG consider people above 70 years as senior citizens and not above 60. Most often companies provide cashless hospitalization cover and all the other benefits available to younger citizens.

• What is covered under travel insurance? Travel insurance covers a number of unforeseen events like: Hospitalization expenses (insurers provide cashless cover for hospitalization and reimburse OPD expenses), personal accident cover, dental emergency cover, loss of baggage, loss of passport, baggage delay, flight delay and cancellation and the transport of mortal remains in the unfortunate case of death. Many travel insurance plans provide services like medical evacuation, which can be critical if you’re in a remote area or if local medical facilities are inadequate. Most companies cover COVID-19 and related medical expenses. Ambulance services and 24/7 helpline numbers to help the insured in difficult situations are provided. Sudden heart attacks, strokes and fractures are usually covered.

However, it is important to look at the policy in detail to understand the extent of coverage and exclusions if any. Says Amrish Dubey, Vice President, Travel Insurance, Tata AIG General Insurance, “It may seem like the insurer is getting a large cover, but there are limits and sub-limits for covers and it is important to check that”.

• What is not covered under travel insurance? Usually travel insurance does not cover any accident arising out of adventure activities, any claim related to consumption of drugs and alcohol, any routine medical examination and pre-existing diseases. The coverage for pre-existing diseases varies from company to company. Some insurance providers may provide coverage with conditions (a long waiting period for reimbursement of expenses) or charge a high premium. Policy details are shared by most insurance companies on their websites and it is important to check these thoroughly.
• What is the Deductible? Very often insurance covers will have limits and deductibles. Deductibles are the amount which the insured person has to pay from his own pocket. It is very important to look closely at the policy and understand the deductibles for the cover you take. Most covers will also have limits and sub-limits. It is imperative to understand those limits.

• Which companies offer travel insurance? Several private firms and PSU banks offer travel insurance. Some of the more known ones are Tata AIG, HDFC Ergo, ICICI Lombard, Bajaj Allianz, Digit Insurance, Care Health Insurance, State Bank of India and Reliance General Insurance.

• What is the premium charged? Usually the premium charged will depend upon
  • Age of the insured: The premium charged for elderly is more than what is charged for younger travellers. This is due to the higher risks attached with advanced age. There is no upper age limit for receiving insurance cover, but the underwriting rules may be restrictive for people beyond 80 years.
  • Country visited and time period: Premium charged for USA and Canada is higher than what is charged for other countries. However, it is advisable to take the cover as medical expenses in these countries can be very high.

Here is a sample of the rates charged for the age band of 71- 75 years travelling to USA/Canada and to other countries. It also shows how the number of days travelled impact the premium.

Source: Tata AIG; Sum Insured – USD 50,000; Rates with sub-limits.

• Covers opted for: The premium varies according to the covers opted for. Says Girish Nayak, Chief, Technology, Health, Underwriting & Claims at ICICI Lombard, “Customers up to 70 years of age can opt for the Platinum plan, which includes all the comprehensive medical and non-medical coverages. Customers who are 71 years old or above can opt for the Senior Citizen plan.”

Says Parthanil Ghosh, President- Retail Business, HDFC Ergo General Insurance, “HDFC Ergo offers a Silver plan (Premium-INR 3772), Gold plan ( Premium-INR 4954) and a Platinum plan (Premium-INR 5945) under our Explorer travel insurance plan. These rates are inclusive of GST and apply to a 61-year-old adult for a 30-day single trip policy to the USA with a sum insured of 1 lakh USD, excluding optional covers.”


Some firms offer additional covers like Hijack Distress Allowance (an allowance if the aircraft is hijacked for more than a certain number of hours) and Home Burglary Insurance (Coverage for burglary at home while you are away).

• If you are a frequent traveller, what plan should you take? It makes sense to buy a multi-trip travel insurance plan in order to save both time and money. Furthermore, if you travel often with your family, it is better to buy group plans instead of individual travel insurance plans. Says Lancelot Crasto, “There is an annual policy for frequent travellers where the premium is lower than what you pay for an individual cover. If the insurance company asks for medical reports, the same hold good for a period of time, if you take an annual policy. So you don't need to repeat tests.”

“HDFC Ergo offers both single trip and annual multi-trip plans to senior citizen travellers, allowing flexibility based on the frequency of travel,” says Parthanil Ghosh.

• Is Travel insurance mandatory? For countries falling under the Schengen zone and for certain other countries like Thailand, travel insurance is mandatory for getting a visa. Other countries like the USA and Singapore have not made it mandatory. However, more and more countries are likely to make travel insurance mandatory. As Amrish Dubey says “No country wants tourists to get stuck in a particular location, due to medical reasons.”

Despite being reasonably priced, tourists often look at travel insurance as dispensable. “People don't understand the risk and insurance penetration is very miniscule, specially for travel in Asia”, says Amrish. This needs to change.

• Is a medical check-up mandatory? Medical check-ups are usually not required for getting travel insurance. However, a senior citizen (and no one for that matter) should travel against the doctor’s advice. It is essential to declare a pre-existing disease as the premiums are calculated accordingly. In some cases severe illness arising out of pre-existing diseases can be covered in case they have been declared.

• Why the network of hospitals is important? While taking travel insurance it is very important to check the network of hospitals listed and to understand how efficiently their cashless system works. “Here it is important to know the foreign partner of the Indian insurance company and check their efficiency in settling claims,” says Lancelot Crasto.

Despite all the hard work that insurance companies are doing there are some areas they need to look at to make travel for the elderly easier. Says a Delhi based mental health professional “My mother is 85 years old and she wanted to travel to the US to be with her brother, but getting travel insurance for her was expensive. Finally, we got a cover, but the medical expenses were not reimbursable in the US. So, in case of hospitalization, her relatives would have had to bear the cost and she could reimburse them only on coming back to India.”

So, it's very important for everyone, specially seniors, to check the details when taking a travel policy as ‘The devil is always in the details’. Nonetheless, do take a travel insurance policy when going overseas and enjoy your trip peacefully!

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