Options wanted for health insurance for 71 yrs old

[albatross710]

I've spent the past few days looking for health insurance for the F-I-L who is booked to travel to Zimbabwe in October for 4 weeks.

As easy as it is for middle aged and younger to gain coverage, most of the website offerings add quite a premium for being over 70. The extra premium I can understand and will just have to be paid.

There is also the issue of the health questionnaire. By the time he has gotten to his age he has a few of life's barnacles collected through his lifetime. One of those little barnacles was a quadruple bypass surgery last year.

Looking at the various health questionnaires they are quite detailed, understandably. Wanting to know the exact date and enquiry for every doctor's appointment for the past 2 years is going to be painful to complete, especially if they were going to knock it back anyway due to his surgery.

One though doing the rounds at home is that maybe he excludes coverage of heart conditions and just takes coverage for new medical, baggage, cancellations etc.

Has anyone had any experience finding suitable cover for over 70 year olds? Are any particular insurers more aged friendly than others? Experiences of others is appreciated.

 

[Mwenenzi]

We have a dedicated travel insurance sub forum: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/travel-insurance/
Have a look at
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...nding-travel-insurance-after-heart-17445.html
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/travel-insurance/seniors-travel-insurance-13348.html
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/travel-insurance/mature-age-travel-insurance-10451.html

 

[albatross710]

Thanks for that - so many new areas to research.

 

[hazel]

Hi
I purchased travel insurance for my 75yo mother today. We use Vero they provide a fairly simple form for the GP to fill out & they cover her pre-existing heart surgery. Have used them previously for her travel insurance. Reasonable premium previous years, but it went up about 150% this time because she turned 75. They were deaf to her protests that she felt just as healthy as she did last year & age is only a state of mind.
hope this helps.

 

[albatross710]

Thanks for the lead hazel.

I've followed up a couple of other ideas:

Westpac Krisflyer Platinum: As it turned out I had paid for the ++charges for the 71 yo flights on my KF card. The insurance says it covers immediate family including parents and was looking good. A talk with the underwriters, Zurich, says they that in-laws are not covered in the definition of parents.


Travel Insurance Direct. Followed the link above. So far they seem to have a more transparent application and pricing.

Alby

 

[openseat]

I've used Travel Insurance Direct in organising insurance for an over 75 year old.

 

[albatross710]

Thought I'd report back on this. We followed up with a nnmber of providers. The Travel Insurance link from AFF ended up being the lowest cost AND the easiest to deal with.

We completed the multi-page medical questionaire which is understandable given the heart history. Within 24 hours they had agreed that terms were acceptable and that he would be covered for the pre-existing condition. Loading was about 25%.

All up his insurance was $450. Medibank & MBF were quoting $700+.

Thanks AFF community.

 

[adrian]

I am pretty sure that the ANZ Gold Visa insurance includes coverage for a 71 y.o. And is free. I arranged a credit card thru them for my mother last year, for that purpose.

 

[albatross710]

I am pretty sure that the ANZ Gold Visa insurance includes coverage for a 71 y.o. And is free. I arranged a credit card thru them for my mother last year, for that purpose.

Good point. I had purchased the ticket on the Westpac KF Plat card. Had he been my blood father then he would have been covered as 'parents' are covered in the standard travel insurance. The card insurance terms & conditions didn't cover in-laws.

Possibly had I asked the question prior to the purchase I may have been able to argue the point but going to them after the purchase I didn't have anything to bargain with.

 

[adrian]

With the ANZ visa, you didn't need to purchase the flight with them, only $250 towards travel costs...

Having said that, in the 10 years or so that I had the ANZ gold card, I never had to make a claim, so I can't say how good they were/are in dealing with claims. A non-credit card policy does give additional peace-of-mind.