Travel insurance a ‘top priority’ for over 55s in post-covid travel resurgence – AllClear

AllClear Travel Insurance has predicted that “travel will emphatically bounce back in 2021” post-Covid-19, with the highest demand from the over 55s age group.

Over a quarter (36%) said that travel insurance was a top priority to cover travellers against the risks of Covid-19.

This was the key finding from AllClear’s latest report, The AllClear Consumer Travel Report: Consumer Views on Travel in 2021 – the Year of Covid, surveying 6,000 customers at different stages in 2020 in a series of studies.

It found that older people are more likely to take a travel post-pandemic with 55% listing it as a priority.

This is in comparison to 15% with medical conditions giving up on holidays during Summer 2020, and despite this, two thirds of adults (66%) surveyed in July said would prioritise a holiday emerging from the first lockdown.

Speaking about the report he was heavily involved in, Garry Nelson, marketing manager told Insurance Times many people said they would feel safer was a vaccine.

He said: “The over 55s age group are leading the charge for travel, the fact that the vaccine rollout is now happening. 

“At the beginning of the pandemic older people were deemed to be most vulnerable and therefore shielded the most, but they are also the group of people that travel more than anyone else, mainly because they are retired

”For them, the lockdown very much has meant a lockdown.”

AllClear is a specialist in travel insurance for medical conditions and particularly older travellers.

It follows Rock Insurance Group revealing that 80% of all trips from the UK were to Europe and historically 30% of customers did not take out travel insurance. Whereas AllClear found that 20-25% of people travelled with no insurance.

Comfort and reassurance

But Nelson stresses the importance of travel insurance as the new Global Health Insurance Card that replaced the former European Health Insurance Card does not replace a suitable travel insurance policy. For example it does not cover repatriation.

The survey also found that customers will pay more to have “comfort and reinsurance” while travelling, more than half (51%) of the over 55’s said that they wanted the best insurance cover for the range of Covid-19 risks.

The over 55s were more likely to choose as destination based on its Covid-19 safety record (56%), while only 28% of those under 34 would look at this.

AllClear’s July study revealed that UK adults were prepared to spend £1,334 more than usual for a safe trip, this was £1,655 for those with underlying medical conditions.

Speaking about the vaccinations he warned, “people that have not had it, might find it more expensive or harder to get cover”.

Referring to other vaccinations that are necessary for travel to certain parts of the world having a certificate as evidence of inoculation, he pondered whether this might happen with the Covid-19 vaccination.

But he said that it was early days.

Nelson added that while the vaccination and insurance were key to increasing how safe customers feel while travelling abroad, the report also found that people are willing to plan trips with greater care to reduce the risk further.