What Affects the Prices of Cheap Family Travel Insurance?

A decent cheap family travel insurance policy is a vital purchase families travelling on a budget. If you choose a reputable provider, they offer a safety net if your family encounters any unexpected circumstances, but they’re not so expensive that they eat into your holiday money.

However, you should be aware that there are some things that could transform an otherwise affordable policy into a more expensive one, so it pays to be informed. Here are some of the more important aspects to take note of.

Age – The older you are, especially if you’re a senior citizen, the more you’ll have to pay for travel insurance. It’s not something you can do much about though, and lying about your true age is a very bad idea. (The same is true for your children.) You might think you stand to save more on a cheap family travel insurance policy by telling a few white lies, but the practice will backfire when you're requested to show documents revealing your true age.

Number of Travellers – The more people you’re travelling with, the more you’ll have to pay for a policy. However, it is worth noting that minors – especially very young children – can be covered as dependents on their parent’s travel insurance plans and are often even free, so shop around for a good deal.

Length of Travel – The longer you stay, the more you’ll have to pay—which makes perfect sense considering your insurer will have to cover you and your family for a longer period of time. There's nothing you can do about this one! Something else to note, however, is that if you decide to extend your holiday while you're there, you'll also need to contact your insurer to extend your insurance policy.

Pre-Existing Conditions – Insurance can increase when someone in the family has a pre-existing medical condition, like diabetes or asthma. You could cut down on the costs by waiving medical expenses incurred due to these conditions, but this will be a major problem if the pre-existing condition flares up while travelling abroad. And again, never be tempted to conceal an existing medical condition.

Excess – You may often have a choice with cheap family travel insurance: pay less for the policy and pay more out of your pocket when something goes wrong; or pay more for the policy and waive the excess. Choosing the former brings down the sticker price of the policy, but choosing the latter helps you save more should something unfortunate happen to you. Weigh up the pros and cons for your personal situation.

Hazardous Activities – Embarking on a tame, relaxed holiday with your family can result in a cheaper insurance policy, but if you want to try your hand at exciting (and risky) activities like skiing, horseback riding or even bungee jumping, then you'll need to pay for additional coverage for these activities. Trying them out without the additional coverage will result in you paying for all medical bills should anyone in the family have an accident.

CFAR Coverage – Finally, 'cancel for any reason' (CFAR) coverage will definitely bring up the cost of a cheap family travel insurance policy. You would normally be covered when you have a legitimate reason for cancelling your trip, but if you want to be covered for any reason, you'll require CFAR coverage.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Insuremore. We provide low cost travel insurance and offer a range of policies including cheap family travel insurance, annual, multi-trip and single-trip insurance. For all your travel cover needs, Insuremore can help you in the quickest and most cost-efficient way.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.