Issues with VHI

colly10

Hi, just having a few issues with VHI and was wondering if anyone could tell me where I stand on a few things -

1. I had a company VHI dental and VHI health care plan with my previous company. I left them in mid December. The company asked me before I left if I wished to continue with VHI paying the premium from January and I said no.
I've been getting letters from VHI since saying that I owe them for these plans.
I wondering if and how I could possibly owe any money to VHI when i've never had any personal dealings with them, never indicated I wished to continue with them and the scheme I was on was just a corporate scheme (the arrangement was between me and the company, not VHI, the money does not come out of my account and I never paid)

2. I decided on the 17th of January I would be better off just cancelling these policies, so I emailed them and asked for both to be cancelled. Only 1 of them was cancelled (they cancelled that on the 22nd), I just received another mail saying I owe for the other policy. I assume I should be able to back date the cancellation of that to the 17th of January, not my fault that it's going to take them 3 weeks to get the cancellation in?

3. Can they destroy my credit rating if I refuse to pay a cent (even when I cancel they still consider me liable for everything from January 1st till the cancellation date). I feel I owe them nothing, I wouldn't take a VHI policy even if it was 1/5 of the cost so I resent owing them money for taking me off a company scheme and putting me on a personal one I never requested, it's a scam in my mind

Thanks

Thoie

colly10 wrote: »

Hi, just having a few issues with VHI and was wondering if anyone could tell me where I stand on a few things -

1. I had a company VHI dental and VHI health care plan with my previous company. I left them in mid December. The company asked me before I left if I wished to continue with VHI paying the premium from January and I said no.
I've been getting letters from VHI since saying that I owe them for these plans.
I wondering if and how I could possibly owe any money to VHI when i've never had any personal dealings with them, never indicated I wished to continue with them and the scheme I was on was just a corporate scheme (the arrangement was between me and the company, not VHI, the money does not come out of my account and I never paid)

2. I decided on the 17th of January I would be better off just cancelling these policies, so I emailed them and asked for both to be cancelled. Only 1 of them was cancelled (they cancelled that on the 22nd), I just received another mail saying I owe for the other policy. I assume I should be able to back date the cancellation of that to the 17th of January, not my fault that it's going to take them 3 weeks to get the cancellation in?

There's a slight mismatch there. While you left the company in mid December, you only cancelled the policies in mid-January. Your previous company obviously never did the cancellation, which by the sounds of it, they should. Unfortunately that means that you were still covered until mid-January, and therefore you owe them money. The discussion to have is with your previous company - they should pay the outstanding amount as they failed to cancel (IMO).

3. Can they destroy my credit rating if I refuse to pay a cent (even when I cancel they still consider me liable for everything from January 1st till the cancellation date). I feel I owe them nothing, I wouldn't take a VHI policy even if it was 1/5 of the cost so I resent owing them money for taking me off a company scheme and putting me on a personal one I never requested, it's a scam in my mind

Thanks

VHI has no impact on your credit rating in and of itself, but could potentially refuse you cover at a later stage, which then makes it awkward if you're ever asked "have you ever been refused cover" - that question pops up on things like life insurance forms. While the intention is see if you've been refused cover because someone else thinks your health is a bad risk, it could get messy.

I'd recommend getting in touch with whoever dealt with the benefits from the previous company, explain that they didn't cancel VHI when asked, and suggest that they pay the VHI up to mid January, when you cancelled. If VHI call you, direct them to speak to the old company, not you.

colly10

Thoie wrote: »

There's a slight mismatch there. While you left the company in mid December, you only cancelled the policies in mid-January. Your previous company obviously never did the cancellation, which by the sounds of it, they should. Unfortunately that means that you were still covered until mid-January, and therefore you owe them money. The discussion to have is with your previous company - they should pay the outstanding amount as they failed to cancel (IMO).

Thanks, I just don't understand how I could be liable for the money because my old company forgot to cancel, I never had a personal agreement with VHI and wouldn't even consider having one

Thoie wrote: »

VHI has no impact on your credit rating in and of itself.

Thanks for this, how do you know who can or can't, whats the criteria?

penexpers

Thoie wrote: »

There's a slight mismatch there. While you left the company in mid December, you only cancelled the policies in mid-January. Your previous company obviously never did the cancellation, which by the sounds of it, they should. Unfortunately that means that you were still covered until mid-January, and therefore you owe them money. The discussion to have is with your previous company - they should pay the outstanding amount as they failed to cancel (IMO).

My understanding of how these schemes work is that the employee applies to join VHI and the company just happen to pay it. The employee is the member, not the company. The policy is tied to the member, not to the company. Therefore the only person who has control over the policy is the employee.

When I was leaving my old job, I was told by my employer that I needed to cancel my VHI policy or continue paying the premiums by myself

penexpers

colly10 wrote: »

Thanks, I just don't understand how I could be liable for the money because my old company forgot to cancel, I never had a personal agreement with VHI and wouldn't even consider having one

By being a member of the VHI, you did have a personal agreement with them.

colly10

penexpers wrote: »

By being a member of the VHI, you did have a personal agreement with them.

No, i've never been in personal contact with them. If I ever did sign anything, it was handed to me by my company 5 years ago (and I don't think I ever did anyway). Even if I did sign something, it would have been for a years policy many years ago. I'll try find out if they ever got my signature

_Whimsical_

You may know this already but just case you aren't aware, if you let your health insurance lapse in Ireland for a period of 13 weeks or more you will be considered as a new health insurance customer when you again want to take out a policy.That means you have to serve a considerable waiting period before your next health insurer will cover you for any health expenses you incur. If you have an existing illness, even if you aren't aware of it yet, you will have to wait 5 years before any expenses relating to that are covered by a new insurer.

So if you intend to get health insurance inthe future don't let it lie for more than 13 weeks.

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

Thoie

colly10 wrote: »

Thanks for this, how do you know who can or can't, whats the criteria?

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/personal_finance/loans_and_credit/irish_credit_bureau.html

Your credit history is a record of credit agreements between you and a financial institution. So a car loan would probably be recorded, but your phone bill wouldn't. The link above gives details, and tells you how to get a copy of your records if you're worried.

broker2008

If it is a salary deduction or company paid scheme, vhi will take instructions from the compnay. I don't believe you are responsible for the payments. The person who runs the vhi scheme in your office will be able to notify VHI of the cancellation date. If vhi refuse then your instruction to the company to cancel will mean that they will have to pay themselves. No issue with credit rating.

If it was an individual policy, the onus is on you to cancel the policy.

colly10

broker2008 wrote: »

If it is a salary deduction or company paid scheme, vhi will take instructions from the compnay. I don't believe you are responsible for the payments. The person who runs the vhi scheme in your office will be able to notify VHI of the cancellation date. If vhi refuse then your instruction to the company to cancel will mean that they will have to pay themselves. No issue with credit rating.

If it was an individual policy, the onus is on you to cancel the policy.

Thanks, it was paid entirely by my old company, I had no personal dealings with VHI

broker2008

Yes not your issue at all.

As mentioned by another poster, if you are going to continue with health insurance and do not want to have to reserve waiting periods, you have 13 weeks from either mid December or January depending on when the cover is going to be cancelled from, by VHI.