Consumers are shooting themselves in the foot by not shopping around for health insurance, a financial expert has warned.

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Health insurers have been ordered to stop confusing customers and discouraging them from shopping around for the best deals.

Aviva Ireland has recorded its best financial performance in five years after posting profits of €85m last year.

Nearly one in four people with private health insurance have switched providers, it has emerged.

Gráinne McGuinness has advice on value for health insurance policies.

Irish parents spend more than €500 a year on extracurricular sports activities for their children.

Ruth Bailey’s working life as director of product strategy, GloHealth.

Laya Healthcare is set to increase the price of many of its products by 4%, with one health insurance expert saying that it would be a “surprise” if VHI did not follow suit before the end of the year.

The number of people with health insurance is set to drop below 2 million for the first time in a decade as almost 4,000 people a month abandoned their health cover between April and June.

A health insurer has begun offering ‘pay-as-you-go’ cover in a bid to prevent some people dropping their current plans.

A pay-as-you-go style of health insurance policy is to be introduced in a bid to target young people and those who have dropped their policies.

GloHealth and Athletics Ireland today announced GloHealth’s sponsorship of athletics in Ireland.

Rob Heffernan estimates his wife Marian’s work in managing all aspects of his race preparation and lifestyle saves him €100,000 a year.

A new campaign is hoping to recruit thousands of consumers in a bid to negotiate group energy deals for residential and business customers.

Thousands of Bord Gáis electricity customers are to be hit with a 2.2% price hike from March as its winter price freeze comes to an end.

Minister for Health James Reily has said that he does not believe price hikes announced by Laya Healthcare and GloHealth are justified.

Older people will have to pay almost €300 more for health insurance after the county’s largest health insurer has yet again pushed up its prices.

Consumers are facing further hardship as another major health insurer has announced an average hike in premiums of 5.2%.

TD's will today be told that plans to increase stamp duty on health insurance could kill the industry altogether.

Three of the country's private health insurance companies will be raising their prices because of changes to stamp duty announced by the Government yesterday.

Three of Ireland's health insurance companies say they will be forced to increase premiums next year.

Families can save up to €2,000 a year in private health care costs by re-examining their options within existing policies, a study shows.

Health insurer GloHealth is to increase rates on some of its plans from Mar 31 and Apr 3.

A major step to secure the future of the VHI and ensure older people can afford private health insurance has been taken with the approval of the risk equalisation scheme by the European Commission.

Consumers with the most basic levels of private health insurance face further reductions in cover if they are to avoid the knock-on effect of an imminent €65 hike in the government health levy.

Customers of Laya Healthcare face premium hikes of up to 13% from Jan 1 next year, the private health insurer announced yesterday.

A new health insurance company will appear before the Oireachtas Health Committee today to urge the government not to increase the health insurance levy.

A battle for customers is looming in the private health insurance market following the arrival of a fourth insurance provider.

With an estimated 6,000 people quitting private health insurance every month as they struggle to keep up payments, the timing of a new arrival in the Irish market is questionable.

Health insurer GloHealth will create 150 jobs within three to four years as the business expands, with 45 of these positions already filled, the company said today.