Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on whether insurance firms can use age to reject a claim

Have a travel question that needs answering? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Last-minute flights to Johannesburg can be found cheaply outside peak travelling times (Getty)

Q Each year we take my 94-year-old father-in-law to South Africa to visit my sister-in-law. Although he is incredibly fit for his age (and can still get travel insurance!) we are very aware that disability could strike him at any time. Were this to happen after we have booked the tickets, would we be able to claim from our travel insurance, or would we be told that disability at his age was a “foreseeable occurrence” and we would not be covered? I am reluctant to ask the insurance company these questions in case they misinterpret them as the precursor to a claim.

Name withheld

A It's a very interesting question – and increasingly relevant in a society in which the average age is rising.

I am delighted to hear your father-in-law is in such fine fettle. I believe the test that applies is simply this: at the time you book and pay for a trip, are he and his doctor confident that he has no known health issues that could jeopardise your plans?

If so, then I cannot envisage an insurer would turn down a claim in the unfortunate event that you needed to cancel.

Having said that, I propose a simpler option: booking at the last minute, providing you visit your sister-in-law at a time when air fares are low (outside Christmas, New Year and the UK school holidays).

For a flight tonight from Heathrow to Johannesburg, returning in a week, I have been quoted £424 return. That is on the excellent services of Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. Non-stops cost significantly more, but looking just three days ahead, South African Airways has a price of £938.

While you may be able to find cheaper deals with a longer booking horizon, you need to balance that against the costs and time that would be involved in any claim for cancellation. Booking late also means that if he simply doesn't feel like another long trip (and who could blame him?), there's no problem. "Disinclination to travel" is not an insurable risk.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder