Travel Insurance for Older Persons

LizEstelle

This is an echo of a thread I've placed on 'over 50s forum'... but since hardly anyone bothers visiting there, I thought I'd give it an airing here.

I see a fair bit of hype from some insurance companies regarding how they SPECIFICALLY treasure the 50+ age group... and yet when I get as far as obtaining a quote, they always seems to be beaten with some ease by non-age-related quotes from ordinary high street brokers or even Mr Tesco.

Is it all just marketing bluster, then?

djohn2002uk

I have found the same, so I ignore them now and anything else age related. Gas and Electric come to mind also operated by such as Saga and Age Concern. All of them can, as you say, be easily beaten. It is a marketing ploy and you'd be surprised how many elderly people are taken in by it.

dunstonh

over 50 quotes tend to focus on "big discounts" but their gross premiums before discounts are usually quite high.

Its a technique used by many companies. Highlight the big discount and make people think that its the discount that matters.

oldwiring

In short the truth is that you have to do your own sums. I do not ignore adverts as that way Imight just miss a bargain that really is the one for me, but I do not jump for it without thought either. BTW it does not only apply to age either. I've had Ca. and a bypass and got much better terms from an ordinary insurer than offered by a *specialist*:rolleyes:

Astaroth

The "problem" is that there is typically 30+ underwriting criteria used to generate the normal quote. Every insurance company has its preferred customer type (I wont go into any of them as it will start an argument/ may insult some people) and so they price their policies so that they attract as may customers within their price point as possible.

"Specialist" insurers really are little different than normal insurers in these situations other than rather that simply intentionally pricing themselves out of the market for some types of customers they just refuse to do quotes. The second thing is that they also only really make a big song and dance about 1 of their preferences (eg age, sex etc) but no more an overt message about its other preferences (socio-economic status, age of vehicle, type of vehicle, marital status, NCD etc).

Therefore whilst you may hit Saga's highly advertised over 50s criteria by being 51 you may be a much stronger match to Privilege by being well off, driving a new car, living in an expensive area etc.

End of the day, as others have said, shopping around is always the best route and it really is a waste of time asking who is the cheapest.

rossbenn

LizEstelle wrote:

This is an echo of a thread I've placed on 'over 50s forum'... but since hardly anyone bothers visiting there, I thought I'd give it an airing here.

I see a fair bit of hype from some insurance companies regarding how they SPECIFICALLY treasure the 50+ age group... and yet when I get as far as obtaining a quote, they always seems to be beaten with some ease by non-age-related quotes from ordinary high street brokers or even Mr Tesco.

Is it all just marketing bluster, then?

But dont forget that all important FREE camera. Must cost about £5.00.

oldwiring

rossbenn wrote:

But dont forget that all important FREE camera. Must cost about £5.00.

:rotfl: :rotfl:

djohn2002uk

Astaroth wrote:

Therefore whilst you may hit Saga's highly advertised over 50s criteria by being 51 you may be a much stronger match to Privilege by being well off, driving a new car, living in an expensive area etc.

But SAGA are, for all intents and purposes, just agents for Liverpool Victoria.

Astaroth

SAGA certainly underwrite their own motor insurance though home and travel are both a separate underwriter which I have to admit I dont recognise the name of but then I concentrate on motor generally and SAGA at the best of the time isnt on my radar as a competitor.

That said and done, if they are a true partner and not just an introducer then many insurers will write separate rating criteria to ensure that their common pool is stable given the likely customer mix. If you look at the RBS brands like Tesco, Prudential, DL, Churchill, Privilege - all of them have their own underwriting terms despite 3 of them being the identical company and the other 2 being partnerships all 5 will give significant different price - not that I have ever seen rate raiding results

angels1441

Try https://www.sunselection.co.uk there age limit is 85 years:j