Health Insurance VHI insurance alternative
- Thread starter yeldaC
- Start date
Hi,
Welcome to AAM.
That is one very expensive plan and like most of the VHI plans it does not even provide 100% for orthopaedic and ophthalmic procedures
I would recommend giving VHI a call and go through your policy with them and get their recommendations for similar cover with a cheaper policy. You could also give Laya a call and see what they offer.
Look up the www.hia.ie website and run a comparison on their recommendations and your present policy.
Unfortunately we do not appear to have any previous threads on AAM specific to your plan that we could use to get other recommendations.
Perhaps you could use either of these two companies who charge a fee for their service to gain advice. There can be a delay with either so if your renewal is coming up you would need to contact them soon.
www.irishhealthinsurance.ie
www.totalhealthcover.ie
This previous thread whilst not referring to your specific plan does give general advice on quite a few VHI policies but it does date back to 2018 so details on policies may have changed since then along with the price increases in the meantime. snowyb was a very knowledgeable contributor in the past.
Welcome to AAM.
That is one very expensive plan and like most of the VHI plans it does not even provide 100% for orthopaedic and ophthalmic procedures
I would recommend giving VHI a call and go through your policy with them and get their recommendations for similar cover with a cheaper policy. You could also give Laya a call and see what they offer.
Look up the www.hia.ie website and run a comparison on their recommendations and your present policy.
Unfortunately we do not appear to have any previous threads on AAM specific to your plan that we could use to get other recommendations.
Perhaps you could use either of these two companies who charge a fee for their service to gain advice. There can be a delay with either so if your renewal is coming up you would need to contact them soon.
www.irishhealthinsurance.ie
www.totalhealthcover.ie
This previous thread whilst not referring to your specific plan does give general advice on quite a few VHI policies but it does date back to 2018 so details on policies may have changed since then along with the price increases in the meantime. snowyb was a very knowledgeable contributor in the past.
Re the HIA website which to be fair is hard work due to the vast number of plans I notice from their recent radio ads that they say you can ring them as well for advice, don't know if that was always an option, if so I never heard it publicised as much! Might be easier give them a ring too rather than negotiate that website, easier to do once you have it narrowed down to a smaller number of policies you want to look up.
Agreed, it is heavy going although I do find if you choose the option just to compare your plan with one other it is easier. Just go down through the different cover to compare.
I did ring them a few times but that option can be hard too as if you are not 100% about plans they can overwhelm you with info. On the other hand it is probably easier than the website.
Just like the energy providers one would have to wonder if its done on purpose by the companies more so than the HIA. I do agree with people that say that the mass move from Plan B with VHI some years ago was the biggest money spinner ever. A lot of the insureds were elderly and afraid to move to another plan in case it came back at them if they needed to go into hospital. Their premiums are often excessive and sometimes the cover is not value for money.
I think also it's borderline impossible do the HIA comparison on a phone and quite a few people don't have laptop/desktop anymore. I wouldn't even attempt it without the bigger screen!
I was only talking to someone few days ago who has never moved from their original work VHI plan, was Plan B but don't know what it's called now, basically is afraid to, told me how good the cover is etc yet further on in the conversation it turned out they had no cover back at all on doc/consultants visits even though they are doing a good few at this stage for an ongoing condition yet paying a fine old premium! Quite a young person too from a technology point of view, no talking to them though!
I was only talking to someone few days ago who has never moved from their original work VHI plan, was Plan B but don't know what it's called now, basically is afraid to, told me how good the cover is etc yet further on in the conversation it turned out they had no cover back at all on doc/consultants visits even though they are doing a good few at this stage for an ongoing condition yet paying a fine old premium! Quite a young person too from a technology point of view, no talking to them though!
Its some years ago since I bothered ringing the HIA as they are so busy coming towards the main renewal dates and I did find the HIA staff were quite cautious in their dealings and don't blame them as it is so complicated with a lot of people not having a clue about their policies.
I'm laughing here at the thoughts of trying to navigate the info on the HIA website on a phone, good luck with that
head wrecking doesn't even cover it.As you mention above I think there are lots of people in that position who for handiness sake are just auto renewing and it is costing them a lot of money.
@yeldaC I think you need to look at what your own requirements are. I don't think it's a good idea to compare your current plan to another cheaper one. You should have a plan that suits your needs and your needs change over time as you get older.
For myself I want good cardiac and orthopaedic cover but I'm not worried about day to day expenses. Also I don't mind if there is a small excess. I am happy with a semi-private room in a public or private hospital. I want a health insurer that also has their own clinics. I don't require a plan that gives better cover than that so I can go with the cheapest plan that covers all of my minimum requirements.
For myself I want good cardiac and orthopaedic cover but I'm not worried about day to day expenses. Also I don't mind if there is a small excess. I am happy with a semi-private room in a public or private hospital. I want a health insurer that also has their own clinics. I don't require a plan that gives better cover than that so I can go with the cheapest plan that covers all of my minimum requirements.
But isn't that exactly what Dermot Goode recommends. Even in that podcast that you linked to elsewhere he says that you may well be able to ring your company and get much the same cover as you presently have at a cheaper rate on a different policy.
I think that's fine if you have the cover you need. I believe I'm over insured at the moment and my current plan has benefits I don't need.
Also, in that podcast he recommends that you give them a budget how much you are willing to spend and get a plan in that range.
Also, in that podcast he recommends that you give them a budget how much you are willing to spend and get a plan in that range.
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