Travelling the world is an ambition for many people after they retire, but elderly travellers face steep insurance premium hikes as soon as they hit 70.
Travel insurance works on the same basis as life policies: the older you get, the higher the premium
Out of 13 insurance companies contacted by The Times, only two did not discriminate between the ages of travellers.
From the remaining 11, nine agencies charged double the rate while a further two did not provide cover for people older than 70.
All the companies contacted refused to provide cover at any price for travellers older than 80.
Additionally, some of the companies that insure elderly travellers would reduce their cover on several sections, such as hospital benefits or cancellation charges.
“This has been a matter of age discrimination for a number of years,” Helen Borg Bonnici, vice president of the National Council for the Elderly, told The Times.
“You can’t judge a person by his chronological age. If an elderly person is certified as being fit and enjoying good health, there is no reason why he should be charged more.”
Ms Borg Bonnici added that insurers should look at the Healthy Life Years (HLY) indicator, which measures how long a person is supposed to live without disability.
The indicator introduces the concept of quality of life. So, if a population’s HLY is increasing more rapidly than its life expectancy, then not only are people living longer, they are also living a greater portion of their lives free from disability.
Eurostat figures show that Malta leads the EU in the healthy life expectancy chart.
“The National Council for the Elderly has dealt with this form of discrimination by pointing it out to AGE Platform Europe in Brussels [to which it is affiliated] on a number of occasions. AGE has also dealt with age discrimination concerning different forms of insurance on a European level,” Ms Borg Bonnici said.
She added there is an agreement between the National Association for Pensioners and Montaldo Insurance to insure members of the NAP beyond the age of 80.
The blanket response from insurers was that premiums rise to reflect an increased risk of medical claims, which are among the most expensive to settle.
“Insurance is based on statistics,” insurance broker Sean Agius explained. “Statistically, a youth is less likely to fall ill than an elderly person. Travel insurance works on the same basis as life policies, where the older you get, the higher the premium.”
And what about the two insurance companies who chose not to charge 70-year-olds a higher rate?
“It’s what I call a business decision.”