Health Insurance: Any advice on renewal?

Dinarius

Renewal due beginning of July.

Currently with AVIVA.

Haven't had to make use of the policy, thankfully.

However, probably tend to drop a few Euros in day-to-day claims. G.P. visits etc.

No particular gripe with the policy.

I'm 57 and in good health. Self-employed.

1. What's the best way of shopping around for a policy?
2. Who makes it easiest to claim for day-to-day expenses?
3. Anything else I should be considering?

Many thanks.

D.

Charles Babbage

The best thing in the health insurance sector is the HIA website https://www.hia.ie/ci/health-insurance-comparison which has policies that don't even appear on the websites of the companies as the companies are required to provide information on any an all policies they offer, even through corporate deals etc. A thorough comparison here is a good start.

Metric Tensor

Second the hia.ie advice.

The comparisons are great but unfortunately the website is poorly coded so you need to set aside some decent time to wade through them all. We'll worth it though. Has saved me hundreds some years.

Quackster

Dinarius wrote: »

Renewal due beginning of July.

Currently with AVIVA.

Haven't had to make use of the policy, thankfully.

However, probably tend to drop a few Euros in day-to-day claims. G.P. visits etc.

No particular gripe with the policy.

I'm 57 and in good health. Self-employed.

1. What's the best way of shopping around for a policy?
2. Who makes it easiest to claim for day-to-day expenses?
3. Anything else I should be considering?

Many thanks.

D.

The best value policy at the moment IMO with comprehensive cover is Laya Simplicity. Compare it with the policy you're on (costs and benefits) on the hia.ie website.

What you need to make sure is does the policy you're on cover the private hospital(s) convenient to you and does it provide full cover for orthopedic and ophthalmic operations. Laya Simplicity ticks both boxes as it covers all (non high-tech) private hospitals.

Laya has a handy app that makes claiming for day-to-day expenses a breeze. Can't speak for the other insurers though.

If you're looking for a cheaper policy, then go for one that provides comprehensive in-patient cover but with a higher excess.

Dinarius

Thanks for that.

My current policy is Laya Flex 500 Explore.

It's €784.34 on the HIA site. Yet, my renewal premium letter says it's €859.39.

Go figure, as they say! :rolleyes:

Will have a look at Laya Simplicity.

I am entitled to a few small outpatient claims. My current policy ends June 30th. Will I have to make the claims by then?

Thanks again.

D.

danko82

I was on 16.1 with my ex company. he payed for it..
now I need to pay, not sure if it is worth to pay 1350euro for a year.

I will probably use a couple of times the gp, that's all...

any advise?

Dinarius

Just spent time on the phone to Laya.

They said that prices on the policies I was asking about (500 Explore, 600 Connect) were higher than on the HIA site - they said that the site doesn't usually keep up to date with the costs. The difference in the prices is quite small.

They said the Mater and Blackrock privates will no longer be on the 500 Explore policies from next month.

Nightly charge on both of these hospitals is quite high with these policies.

Outpatients costs are virtually unclaimable, unless you've had a lot of visits to a very expensive consultant.

They admitted that these policies were aimed at public hospital, in-patient care, and little else.

Given that I am (touch wood) in reasonable health, I think I will probably go for the slightly more expensive (only €17.00, or so) 600 Connect policy in order to maintain my option on Blackrock Clinic. (Though the nightly charge is still €200!).

I live just down the road from Vincent's and B'rock, so would like to keep them on my insurance list.

Thanks for the help.

D.

LostArt

The Hia site prices are correct, but Laya are upping their prices on Saturday!

Dinarius

LostArt wrote: »

The Hia site prices are correct, but Laya are upping their prices on Saturday!

Ahah!

Saturday is my renewal day.

That explains the price rise, I guess.

Many thanks.

D.

Quackster

Dinarius wrote: »

Ahah!

Saturday is my renewal day.

That explains the price rise, I guess.

Many thanks.

D.

If you're happy that policy best meets your needs, tell them to cancel your existing policy a day early and start the new policy from Friday June 30th to avoid the price increase. You new policy will then run until June 1st next year.