Save up to €2k a year on health insurance

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.

Consumers will benefit most by staying with their health insurance provider and can save anywhere between 35% and 46% of the cost of their premiums by simply changing plans.

The latest round of price increases makes it essential to look for better value, according to experts at healthinsurancesavings.ie who conducted the survey.

VHI has increased rates this month by up to 8.5% on certain plans, while Laya is increasing some plans by up to 16.4% from Apr 1.

Aviva has announced an increase of up to 6.4% on most plans from Mar 31, while GloHealth have just announced plans will rise by up to 9.6% from the end of the month. This follows on the back of a previous round of increases across all four insurers between Oct 2012 and Jan 2013 from 3% to 12%.

However, according to healthinsurancesavings.ie, there are still plenty of options available to consumers to reduce costs. The biggest saving can be made with Laya Healthcare. A family of two adults and two children with Laya can make a saving of €1,947 a year by switching from the Essential Plus product to the equivalent plan, Healthwise Plus.

The health insurance broker advises anyone who has been on the same plan for more than three years to review their cover immediately as they’ve been hit by each subsequent price increase for that period.

They say that over the past four years, some plans have increased by up to 135%, but in many cases, insurers will have launched lower cost equivalents but under a different product name.

Dermot Goode of healthinsurancesavings.ie said: “Whilst all insurers operate annual contracts which lock you into your policy for a 12 month period, some of these changes only came into effect from Jun 2012.

“For Laya and Aviva customers due to renew in April and May, it may be possible to do a ‘stop and& start’ on your cover to avoid the next price increase for a further 12 months, ie, stop your current policy now and set up a new policy on the same plan on the current rates.

“All consumers need to be wary of these annual contracts. You have 14 days after your renewal date to cancel or amend your cover. After this, you could find yourself locked into an expensive annual contract and you could face financial penalties if you subsequently try and cancel the policy.

“Therefore, it’s critical that you act on the renewal notice once it lands as complacency could cost you dearly.”

A price comparison of two similar plans with the same providers revealed that in certain cases, people can save anywhere between 35% and 46% of the cost of their premiums by switching.

“Consumers who want better value must now shop around,” said Mr Goode.

“For example, the new insurer GloHealth offers free cover on their mid-range and higher plans for all children under three years old.

He said a way to further reduce costs is to take on a small excess (€50 to €125 per admission) in private hospitals only.

*healthinsurancesavings.ie.