How does the country you visit affect the price of your travel insurance?

Added 19/12/2011

Europe on a map

Did you know that your holiday destination can have a significant impact on the price of travel insurance?

There are 4 main criteria taken into account when you get a quote for travel insurance over 65 or travel insurance for medical conditions. The duration of your holiday, your age, any medical conditions that you need to have covered by the travel insurance and the severity of those pre-existing conditions, and lastly the destination that you are planning to travel to.

To keep your travel insurance costs down, choose your holiday destination carefully

You can’t do much about your age or your medical conditions, but you can keep the price of your travel insurance down by choosing your holiday destination carefully.

The country you travel to can have a big impact on the price of travel insurance, no matter what your age, but if you are over 65 or have pre-existing medical conditions that need to be covered, the difference in the price of travel insurance cover can become much more dramatic.

This price difference is generally down to the cost of medical treatment in that country. For instance, medical treatment in the USA, Canada and the Caribbean is notoriously expensive, this means that if you fall ill in any of those countries and subsequently make a claim on your travel insurance, the cost to the insurer is going to be significantly higher — therefore this is reflected in the price of your policy.

Even within Europe, the country you travel to could have an impact on the price of your travel insurance. Spain or the Spanish Islands, including the Canaries is often more expensive for travel insurance than other European countries. This is because tourists are often sent to private hospitals where the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) is not accepted, resulting in the cost of medical treatment for British tourists in Spain being higher than in other European Countries.

Which countries might increase the price or your travel insurance?

Within Europe, countries which can be more expensive include Spain, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta and Switzerland. Outside of Europe, USA, Canada, the Caribbean are the ones to avoid if you want to keep the cost of your travel insurance to a minimum.

Unless there is a reason why you want to travel to a particular destination, why not get a quick quote for travel insurance cover before you commit to a holiday destination? That way you can see what impact the destination country has on the price of your travel insurance. If you have more severe pre-existing medical conditions, such as cancer, the country you travel to could change the price of travel insurance by as much as a few hundreds of pounds, so it can be worth doing a bit of research before you book your holiday.

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