# Health Insurance Refunds. How are they calculated.



## Odea (23 Apr 2020)

I got an email from Laya to say that they are refunding me €198 in respect of my health Insurance policy. My policy cost about €1000 and started last November.

Does anyone know how they have arrived at this figure of €198 as there is no explanation (that I can see) anywhere in their email to me.


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## RedOnion (23 Apr 2020)

My understanding from reading the email is that Laya are refunding all policies the same amount, regardless of what policy you're on.


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## Grizzly (24 Apr 2020)

RedOnion said:


> My understanding from reading the email is that Laya are refunding all policies the same amount, regardless of what policy you're on.


This doesn't seem right.

If you are paying €1000 or €2000 or €3000 premium, you get €198? How is this amount calculated?

If private hospitals are closed, then you should get a full refund of that portion of your outstanding policy. I don't see why Laya should profit from this?

Is VHI paying the same sum?


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## RedOnion (24 Apr 2020)

Grizzly said:


> Is VHI paying the same sum?


No, vhi are refunding based on 50% of the monthly premium. So higher cost gets higher refund.



Grizzly said:


> If private hospitals are closed, then you should get a full refund of that portion of your outstanding policy.


Private hospitals aren't the only thing covered by your policy. I've no idea how to calculate it, but personally I don't expect a 100% refund. There'll be a backlog of cases to work through when restrictions are lifted - say for example (and this is randomly picked) you wanted a hip replacement. It'll cost the insurance company the same whether you had it last year, or later this year. The fact private hospitals are closed for 3 months doesn't reduce the cost to them, just delays it.
Just my thoughts.


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## michaelm (25 Apr 2020)

I recently got an email from Vhi stating "Vhi will waive a percentage of your premium for a three month period, effective from the 15th of May onwards. This will range from 45% to 60% depending on your plan(s). Your direct debit will automatically reflect this change and we’ll send you a new interim payment schedule, so you don’t need to do anything.!


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