over 80 travelling to Australia
Aug 19th 2013, 5:13 pm
#1
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2010
Location: St.Leonards, Victoria, Australia
Posts: 370
over 80 travelling to Australia
My wife and I are hoping to travel to Australia to see family for 3 months from November of this year. However, because of our age, the oldest being 82 we are having great difficulty finding travel insurance. What insurance we can find is completely out of our reach financially.
As we are UK passport holders I am looking at flight only insurance cover and then relying on the reciprocal agreement between Australia and the UK for medical cover using Medicare.
We intend flying Cathay Pacific from London Heathrow via Hong Kong to Melbourne.
Any advice re our problem appertaining to Medicare and Flight only insurance would be much appreciated
As we are UK passport holders I am looking at flight only insurance cover and then relying on the reciprocal agreement between Australia and the UK for medical cover using Medicare.
We intend flying Cathay Pacific from London Heathrow via Hong Kong to Melbourne.
Any advice re our problem appertaining to Medicare and Flight only insurance would be much appreciated
Aug 19th 2013, 5:30 pm
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Sep 2007
Location: Canberra
Posts: 8,378
Re: over 80 travelling to Australia
I'm not sure that would be a good idea - sure, you would be covered if you got run over by a bus but if (heaven forbid) you had something which required you to be repatriated with support (stroke, accident, heart attack etc) then you would be up for tens of thousands. There is an ad on UK tv at the moment which advertises travel insurance regardless of age but I don't recall the name and the premiums may well be prohibitive! I'm guessing you've plugged details into Go Compare, Compare the Market etc to see if anyone will offer you something affordable. It was one of the reasons that my parents stopped visiting at 81.
Aug 19th 2013, 8:42 pm
#3
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Joined: May 2005
Location: QLD
Posts: 797
Re: over 80 travelling to Australia
My mum is in her late 70's and got travel insurance last year which was affordable compared to all the others we looked at which would have cost multiple times more than her flight. She comes for three months, it cost somewhere in the region of 350 - 400 pounds.
http://www.justtravelcover.com/
If you look in the over 65's section it says there are some options with no age limits but I haven't looked at the prices. Yes, mum used to rely on the reciprocal health agreement in Aus but with her age and getting medical conditions, the worry was if something happened while on route or at Singapore and like quoll says, if something major happened here it could get very costly if medical support was needed to get home or if travel home wasn't possible.
http://www.justtravelcover.com/
If you look in the over 65's section it says there are some options with no age limits but I haven't looked at the prices. Yes, mum used to rely on the reciprocal health agreement in Aus but with her age and getting medical conditions, the worry was if something happened while on route or at Singapore and like quoll says, if something major happened here it could get very costly if medical support was needed to get home or if travel home wasn't possible.
Last edited by kitty4; Aug 19th 2013 at 8:43 pm. Reason: typo
Aug 20th 2013, 3:01 am
#4
Victorian Evangelist
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Melbourne, by the beach, living the dream.
Posts: 7,704
Re: over 80 travelling to Australia
My wife and I are hoping to travel to Australia to see family for 3 months from November of this year. However, because of our age, the oldest being 82 we are having great difficulty finding travel insurance. What insurance we can find is completely out of our reach financially.
As we are UK passport holders I am looking at flight only insurance cover and then relying on the reciprocal agreement between Australia and the UK for medical cover using Medicare.
We intend flying Cathay Pacific from London Heathrow via Hong Kong to Melbourne.
Any advice re our problem appertaining to Medicare and Flight only insurance would be much appreciated
As we are UK passport holders I am looking at flight only insurance cover and then relying on the reciprocal agreement between Australia and the UK for medical cover using Medicare.
We intend flying Cathay Pacific from London Heathrow via Hong Kong to Melbourne.
Any advice re our problem appertaining to Medicare and Flight only insurance would be much appreciated
BB
Aug 20th 2013, 6:21 am
#5
Bright in Orange
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Orange, NSW
Posts: 515
Re: over 80 travelling to Australia
I looked into this in some detail and spend a couple of days trying to find something for my folks a couple of years ago. Short answer is if you are over 80 and want insurance for more than a couple of weeks you will pay a fortune.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=659373
There is one insurer on that thread that I found that you may like to try.
Additionally I found this one that will help others looking for cover under 80 (but not you I'm afraid)
http://www.anzplus.com/main/step1
Sorry not to be the bearer of better news. Also are you sure that your household insurance policy will allow your current house to be vacant to 3 months and still cover it? This was another issue my folks had that resulted in them reducing visit to 60 days.
Sorry can't help any more - its a major hassle!
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=659373
There is one insurer on that thread that I found that you may like to try.
Additionally I found this one that will help others looking for cover under 80 (but not you I'm afraid)
http://www.anzplus.com/main/step1
Sorry not to be the bearer of better news. Also are you sure that your household insurance policy will allow your current house to be vacant to 3 months and still cover it? This was another issue my folks had that resulted in them reducing visit to 60 days.
Sorry can't help any more - its a major hassle!
Aug 21st 2013, 7:19 am
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 530
Re: over 80 travelling to Australia
when I come to Australia every year for 6 months at a time this is what I use never had a problem with any claims, only made small claims like dentist.
Aug 21st 2013, 7:40 am
#7
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: London
Posts: 276
Re: over 80 travelling to Australia
As others have said, insurance is essential in case something happens which requires medical repatriation.
You just need to check the small print as some credit card travel insurance has an upper limit on the age of the passengers and/or.....
........a restriction on the length of trip.
My parents are visiting soon and this is the first time that they have visited since my father turned 80. They found that their previous insurers were not prepared to cover them and that a number of alternative insurers would only insure a trip of up to 30 days.
They found the following website useful:
www.medicaltravelcompared.co.uk
and finally purchased insurance through this lot:
www.goodtogoinsurance.com
I know that it wasn't cheap, but at least they are covered which gives them peace of mind.
My parents are visiting soon and this is the first time that they have visited since my father turned 80. They found that their previous insurers were not prepared to cover them and that a number of alternative insurers would only insure a trip of up to 30 days.
They found the following website useful:
www.medicaltravelcompared.co.uk
and finally purchased insurance through this lot:
www.goodtogoinsurance.com
I know that it wasn't cheap, but at least they are covered which gives them peace of mind.
Aug 21st 2013, 7:44 am
#8
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 530
Re: over 80 travelling to Australia
As others have said, insurance is essential in case something happens which requires medical repatriation.
You just need to check the small print as some credit card travel insurance has an upper limit on the age of the passengers and/or.....
........a restriction on the length of trip.
My parents are visiting soon and this is the first time that they have visited since my father turned 80. They found that their previous insurers were not prepared to cover them and that a number of alternative insurers would only insure a trip of up to 30 days.
They found the following website useful:
www.medicaltravelcompared.co.uk
and finally purchased insurance through this lot:
www.goodtogoinsurance.com
I know that it wasn't cheap, but at least they are covered which gives them peace of mind.
You just need to check the small print as some credit card travel insurance has an upper limit on the age of the passengers and/or.....
........a restriction on the length of trip.
My parents are visiting soon and this is the first time that they have visited since my father turned 80. They found that their previous insurers were not prepared to cover them and that a number of alternative insurers would only insure a trip of up to 30 days.
They found the following website useful:
www.medicaltravelcompared.co.uk
and finally purchased insurance through this lot:
www.goodtogoinsurance.com
I know that it wasn't cheap, but at least they are covered which gives them peace of mind.
