Insurance World

Nowadays it’s a commonly shared dream to live, work, travel or study abroad - and as flights get cheaper and the internet and email broadens our minds and opens up our world to a whole host of international opportunity, so more and more of us are getting to live the dream and explore the wider world.

When we move overseas many of us buy travel insurance with our flight package but our thoughts about our own personal welfare go little further than that – apart from getting a place to live and maybe finding a job too! However, when living abroad a little more thought needs to go into our overall health and wellbeing because health care services around the world differ greatly as does the cost of getting decent medical assistance.

Taking care of yourself when living abroad should be an initial priority, and the options available include having basic international insurance to cover accident and emergency treatment, getting repatriation cover if you’re traveling to somewhere fairly inhospitable where medical facilities are rudimentary, or spending a fortune of an all singing all dancing international health insurance scheme that will cover you for all eventualities!

The majority of us opt for something in between all the extremes so that we don’t have to worry about our health but we don’t have to worry about the depletion of our bank account each month on policy payments either!

It is well worth shopping around international health insurance providers, specialist expatriate health care providers and also looking at the local offerings in the country you’re moving to. For those moving to reside in one country it’s enough just to get the level of cover recommended by that country. For those traveling the world then naturally enough a good insurance that will cover for all worst case scenario extremes is well worth considering! After all, no one wants to be left in the middle of nowhere with a broken leg and no means to pay for some painkillers and plaster!

Once a policy has been found that matches both your requirements and your budget and you’ve read the small print, familiarized yourself with the main points, restrictions, excesses and inclusions of the policy hopefully it can all be forgotten about and you will never need to make use of it. If the worst happens and you fall ill though, at least you will know that you have nothing to worry about apart from concentrating on getting better, your health insurance provider will take care of all of the rest for you.

According to the Association of British Insurers we can expect, over the next 50 years, an incredible 150% rise in the number of car drivers aged 70 and over, who hold a full driving licence. The fact that the “baby boomers” are now reaching retirement and people are generally living longer is a major factor in this calculation.

They also forecast that this group of older drivers will go from the present approximately 4 million to over 10 million by 2050. It is expected that the number of drivers of other ages will remain fairly constant. If this is correct then by 2050 nearly 40% of the driving population will be aged 60 or more and nearly a quarter of then will be over 70!

The Government has been requested by the ABI to consider the possibility of medical and eyesight tests to be carried out on a regular basis.

As far as insurance is concerned, risk levels are extremely difficult to measure as driving skills are liable to deteriorate over the years, due to a gradual decline in both health and eyesight. The deterioration is particularly noticeable once the driver has reached the aged of 80. This leads to slower response times and therefore puts these people at a much higher accident risk. It also makes recent driving experience, normally a key part in working out risk, less relevant as drivers get older.

The ABI say that the numbers of claims made by older drivers are inclined to worsen with age and that the drivers themselves are more likely to be badly injured or killed if they’re involved in an accident. Claim costs rise with age and are 50% higher for a driver of over 80 than for one aged 60.

No wonder, then, that some older drivers are beginning to have problems with obtaining suitable insurance. There’s no need to panic though, it appears that virtually all insurers will continue your current cover without applying age restrictions. It doesn’t follow that this will give you the best deal, though, and it’s good to obtain a few alternative quotes from time to time.

Currently the insurance market for these drivers is relatively small but as the numbers increase then more insurance companies will join in the competition and specialized firm will join those already offering this type of cover. It’s obviously going to be a fast-growing market.

At the other end of the scale, Norwich Union has just launched a “young drivers” policy for its current customers. As young drivers have a ten-fold chance of a serious accident at night time, there is a charge of Ј1 for each time they are out on the road between 11pm and 6am.

This is part of a host of new, up to date policies being introduced in an effort to gain new customers, whilst keeping down the costs of insurance.

If you’re willing to pay Ј475 excess, waive your no-claims discount and courtesy car, for instance, then you can expect to save 12% against the normal fully comprehensive cover quote from Tesco, with their new “Value” policy.

Direct Line is another company with some new ideas, such as allowing motorcyclists to transfer no-claim discounts when purchasing a car. Also they have a policy that lets family members build up no-claim discounts on each others’ cars, and offers a discount if all householders insure their cars with them.

Check carefully before jumping in with one of these new policies, however, as the big insurers will normally let you cut your costs by opting out of some of these measures. For instance, if you were to raise your excess and maybe forego your no claims protection, this would make a great deal of difference to your premium.

It’s a fast changing scene and certainly not easy to keep up with, whatever your age. The best advice we can give is to get online and find an insurance broker. They will take into account all your circumstances and compare a number of insurance companies to obtain the best deal to suit you, at the most competitive price. You’ll get your online discount too.