Renewing Health Insurance

GowlBag

My health insurance is up for renewal on the 1st of October. I received my renewal particulars in the post and the cash price of my policy this year is going to be €2068. This is €172 per month. It's gotten too expensive for me so I looked at my insurance company's website to look at alternative options. While I was in there I could see the price of the exact plan I am on quoted as being €133 per month.

I rang them to see if I could find out why. The guy I talked to had to go off and check the site and then came back and agreed that the €133 was right but he told me that was August pricing and I wouldn't get that price because I was effectively renewing in October. So no points for loyalty there, I've been with them for 13 years or so. I think it's time for a new insurer.

When I went to get a quote from the Glo Health site I couldn't specify the 1st of October as the start date, it's obviously too far in the future. So the real question is; do all the insurance companies play the same game? If I switch to another insurer am I still going to get stuck with an "October" price? If that's the case, would I be better off cancelling my current policy straight away so I can get a new one at the lovely "August" price. And one more short one, please: Which month is the cheapest for health insurance?

Thanks.

daheff

check out this site for comparisons

http://www.hia.ie/ci/health-insurance-comparison


generally if you tell them the policy they quoted you is too expensive they come back with a comparable policy thats cheaper (just make sure you understand what you lose on the cheaper policy)


nothing to stop you signing up now with another provider (but then you'd be doubly insured for a month or two). I'd just be careful about cancelling a policy as you'll probably still have to pay for the remainder of the contract and may lose out having to pay the uninsured premium

thebiglad

Also make sure you ask them to give you the price of identical cover using Company Plans - apparently the price they sell to Google etc they must offer to us if asked.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/the-best-policy-answers-to-your-questions-about-health-insurance-1.1651185

Also, ensure you are claiming your tax relief on the premium - if you are not, the good news is you can claim back 6 years.

GowlBag

Thanks daheff that's an excellent site for comparing plans. It'll come in very handy. I'd be a bit wary about cancelling the plan I'm on alright. As you say, they might still want the whole year's contract paid up.

Thanks thebiglad. I'm already on the corporate equivalent of my plan. I found out about that a while back and jumped at it! I thought all these health insurance policies had tax relief at source. I'll have to look into that.