Stability periods by insurer and age: the full super visa matrix

Stability periods in super visa insurance run from 90 to 365 days and lengthen with the parent’s age. In October 2026, Secure Travel required 90 days to age 69 and 180 from 70 to 84. TuGo required 90 days to 59, 120 to 69, 180 to 85 and 365 at 86 and over, with an optional rider for conditions unstable up to 7 days before the start. Destination used 90, 120 and 180 days by band. Manulife, GMS, 21st Century Enhanced and Allianz from age 60 required 180 days.

The period is the number of days before the effective date during which a pre-existing condition must have had no change: no new diagnosis, no new or stopped medication, no dose change, no new symptom, no admission, no pending test or referral. The what is stable page defines the test. This page is the matrix of how many days each insurer applies at each age.

What is the full stability matrix by insurer and age?

Eight insurers, five age bands. Read down the parent’s age column. Terms seen October 2026 in insurer wordings and the PolicyAdvisor and BestQuote summaries — verify in the policy document at quote time.

Sources for the exact wordings: TuGo states 90 days at 59 and under, 120 from 60 to 69, 180 from 70 to 85 and 365 at 86 and over, measured by age on the application date. GMS excludes conditions “which have not been stable for 180 days immediately prior to your effective date.” Manulife Plan B pays nothing “for a preexisting condition that is not stable within 180 days of the effective date.” The Allianz summary gives 90 days at 59 and younger and 180 from 60 to 89. The 21st Century brochure gives 180 days for Enhanced. Travelance’s bands were not published in the summaries we checked; confirm at quote time.

Where do the periods step up?

At 60 and at 70, with a further step at 80 and 86 at some insurers. The steps matter because a parent who turns 60 or 70 before the effective date moves to the longer period, and the age counted is the age on the application or effective date depending on the wording.

The age 65, 70, 80 page covers the premium steps at the same ages. Where a birthday falls between purchase and the effective date, ask the insurer in writing which age applies.

What does TuGo’s 7-day rider cover?

Conditions that changed recently. TuGo’s optional Unstable Pre-existing Medical Condition Coverage, for applicants 79 and under on the application date, replaces the standard stability exclusion with one that excludes only conditions “not stable on or within the 7 days before the effective date.” A dose change three weeks ago is covered; one five days ago is not.

It is the only product we compare that insures a recent change outright. Its price and its combined limit are the trade-offs; the TuGo review covers both.

What does GMS’s no-questions rule mean for stability?

Nothing. GMS asks no medical questions under 55, and its wording still excludes conditions not stable for 180 days at every age. The questionnaire decides what the insurer knows at purchase; the exclusion decides what it pays at claim. A no-questionnaire plan is checked at claim time against the parent’s records, which is how the $96,311 Hamilton bill arose on a different no-questionnaire plan. The medical questionnaire by insurer page sets out who asks what at which ages.

How do you use the matrix to choose?

Count the days from the last change to the planned effective date, find the parent’s age band, and read off which insurers’ periods are shorter than that count. Those insurers cover the condition; the rest exclude it. Price only the insurers that cover it. Four worked examples, all with an effective date of 1 April 2027:

Three rules follow. First, if the count is between 90 and 120, only Secure Travel covers a parent aged 60 to 69, and four insurers cover a parent under 60. Second, if the count is over 180, every insurer covers the condition and price decides. Third, moving the effective date later, which a delayed visa often does anyway, can lift a condition over the line.

What if no insurer’s period is met?

Four options, in order of cost: move the effective date, buy with the condition excluded, buy TuGo’s rider if the parent is 79 or under, or wait. The option not on the list is buying a no-questionnaire plan and hoping; the exclusion applies regardless.

Whatever the choice, the answers on the questionnaire must match the records, because the stability check happens at claim time against the home-country file. The how to fill the questionnaire page is the method, and the 2026 comparison sets the matrix beside price and maximum age. The condition pages under pre-existing conditions apply the matrix to diabetes, hypertension, heart conditions and the rest.