Health Insurance Health insurance: delaying renewal

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pat1019

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My health insurance is due for renewal on 1st December. It's going to cost about €1,000 to renew my plan.
Is there any downside to this: it seems that one is given 14 weeks grace to pay the renewal fee. If I decide to hold off on paying, I can go through that period and 'play it by ear'. If I need to avail of the policy, I can just pay it and it will be activated retro from 1st December 2020.
However, if I decide to wait say 8 weeks, I could terminate my policy altogether and take out a new one, active from say 1st February. That would mean that I would have had two months with the comfort of knowing I had a plan (if I needed it) without actually paying for it, and then - come February - restart the clock with a new policy, so saving two months' worth of premium.
Is there a risk/flaw to this?
 
A flaw I see in your comment is leaving it lapsed for 14 weeks. The rule is a strict 13 weeks.

13 weeks + 1 day and you will be starting afresh.

You normally have a 14 DAY payment grace period before it moves to the cancellation process. You then start getting letters requesting payment which lead to eventual cancellation for non payment.

But in essence, you can call within those 13 weeks and request to register a new policy from a current date while maintaining your waiting periods.

Naturally any claim/receipt submitted during the period where no policy is active will not be honoured.
 
Thanks for that! 13 weeks it is.

So, if I delayed say four weeks without paying for the renewal (during this period I would be getting the reminder letters), and if I got sick, I could decide to pay the premium right away, the policy would be renewed (backdated to four weeks before), and now I could submit a claim if I needed to for medical expenses due to the that illness. Is that right?
What I'm driving at is: if I didn't get sick during that four weeks, I could just let the policy lapse and start a fresh one. During the previous four weeks I would have had the best of both worlds: no payment, but the comfort of knowing that coverage was only a payment away if I needed it...
I would have had a 'free month' in a way...?
 
I think you would want to be careful here. If you develop a new condition while not insured, it will be treated as a preexisting condition when you do eventually take out a new policy and therefore you won't be covered. For the sake of few hundred euro don't stupper your policy.
 
You have the right idea pat1019 but as unlikely as it might be, there is a small chance of not having cover for a condition that the insurer deems to have arisen during the break in cover period.

When a condition arises it's not when you are diagnosed, it's when the signs ans symptoms appear. Claim forms ask for onset date of condition & duration of signs and symptoms. Either with a date during your break = no cover.
 
Just curious if anyone has not renewed their health insurance on purpose and let it lapse to try and avail of a better rate due to it being taken out on a different date? I have noticed there can be different prices on the basis of the renewal date and wonder is it a game worth playing or could you actually end up paying more. Similar theme to this post here: https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threa...with-3-day-difference-in-renewal-date.220355/
 
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