Free vhi for kids

John mac

http://www.hia.ie/latest-news/vhi-provide-free-child-cover-on-parents-and-kids-scheme-02.09.2010.htm


As per title of thread,

Not sure if its been posted here before but worth it if you are paying for kids..

If you ring them up they should Honour this for existing customers.

clevtrev

yes good offer with VHI if you have lots of sprogs ! and great HIA website for finding cheaper health insurance - saved over 600 on my family policy without loss of any benefits.

All of these insurers (VHI / Aviva and Quinn ) have many cheaper schemes designed for specific businesses and professions that are not displayed on their websites and are not offered to the general public but the HIA site displays and prices them for you. If you ask for the scheme they are obliged to make it available to you.

broker2008

John mac wrote: »

http://www.hia.ie/latest-news/vhi-provide-free-child-cover-on-parents-and-kids-scheme-02.09.2010.htm

Not sure if its been posted here before but worth it if you are paying for kids..

If you ring them up they should Honour this for existing customers.

Aviva are offering free kids also.

clevtrev

broker2008 wrote: »

Aviva are offering free kids also.

with which plan ? cant see anything about it on their website

rubadub

Aviva do it too :mad: do quinn?

I have no kids so do not like having to subsidise other peoples. I hate this "free" bollox, nothing is free, somebody is paying for it -in this case those with no kids.

slave1

take it to after hours

rubadub

slave1 wrote: »

take it to after hours

It is worth knowing who does not have this crap. Seems quinn do have a 30% discount for kids, therefore they can afford to offer people with no kids a better deal.

http://www.quinn-healthcare.com/press_and_media/pressrelease010710.htm

They also have cheaper rates for students, the ex-MD in my place had plenty of cash but was a student.

Orion

rubadub wrote: »

Aviva do it too :mad: do quinn?

I have no kids so do not like having to subsidise other peoples. I hate this "free" bollox, nothing is free, somebody is paying for it -in this case those with no kids.

You don't have to take out insurance at all - then you're subsidising nobody. I don't see you complaining about subsidising corporations who have cheaper plans than consumers.

Which leads nicely on to ...The IT had an article on Monday about insurance - consumers can avail of corporate plans. All you have to do is ask for them.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/pricewatch/2010/0906/1224278285701.html

NuMarvel

rubadub wrote: »

It is worth knowing who does not have this crap. Seems quinn do have a 30% discount for kids, therefore they can afford to offer people with no kids a better deal.

http://www.quinn-healthcare.com/press_and_media/pressrelease010710.htm

They also have cheaper rates for students, the ex-MD in my place had plenty of cash but was a student.

Well, in health insurance, those that don't claim are subsidising those that do, so the whole subsidisation thing is inbuilt from the get go.

Also, the student rate is only up to 21 as part of a family policy, so your ex-MD would have to have been under that age AND included as a dependent in order to get the student rate.

Regarding the topic at hand, the Health Insurance Authority's website news section is quite good at posting updates about price changes, benefits changes, new plans etc - http://www.hia.ie/latest-news.htm. There are so many different discounts and offers on child rates in the last few months, it's hard to keep up!

Boardnashea

Is the built in price for kids (let's not call it free) going to be continued at next renewal as well or am I going to be hit with a whooper and have to switch again then?

NuMarvel

Most of the "Kids go free" offers are limited time offers, usually a month. So chances are the kids will be charged again at renewal.

Even if they're not though, I'd always suggest shopping around at renewal anyway, just so you can be sure you're getting the best value. If you do it for car or home insurance, there's no reason not to at least look at other health insurance plans.

John mac

Boardnashea wrote: »

Is the built in price for kids (let's not call it free) going to be continued at next renewal as well or am I going to be hit with a whooper and have to switch again then?

I rang them today , what you do is cancel the existing policy and just get a new one. simple. phone number for vhi (if you have inclusive mins on your phone is 01 7994120 ,1,4 ) €600 in my pocket!

rubadub

Macros42 wrote: »

I don't see you complaining about subsidising corporations who have cheaper plans than consumers.

I don't complain about group schemes because I am in one!;) I do also think it is unfair, but I will take advantage, as I would if I had kids.

I just have a pet hate about the word "free" being used in marketing, I always want to know the catch.

I forgot I was actually in a group scheme TBH, my father told me that trick, just stick a few quid in a credit union and you are in a group scheme -I was with VHI anyway.

Dades

AFAIK it is illegal for health insurance companies to charge for insurance for kids under 1 yr. Therefore the "offers" some are bandying about are just the implementation of rules they have to abide by.

I have a two year old, and a 5 month old, both were (are) free on my policy until the renewal date after their first birthday for this reason.

eamo12

rubadub wrote: »

Aviva do it too :mad: do quinn?

I have no kids so do not like having to subsidise other peoples. I hate this "free" bollox, nothing is free, somebody is paying for it -in this case those with no kids.

I'm afraid it's the kids that will be paying for our mistakes today so in effect, they are the ones that are subsidizing us, providing they all don't do the sensible thing and feck off out of the country. Also, you might need one of these kids someday to wipe your arse when your when your an old grumpy fart in a hospital bed

scuby

Dades wrote: »

AFAIK it is illegal for health insurance companies to charge for insurance for kids under 1 yr. Therefore the "offers" some are bandying about are just the implementation of rules they have to abide by.

I have a two year old, and a 5 month old, both were (are) free on my policy until the renewal date after their first birthday for this reason.

if the kids are added from date of birth they are free until next renewal...if you take out a policy when the child is a few months old you pay

broker2008

scuby wrote: »

if the kids are added from date of birth they are free until next renewal...if you take out a policy when the child is a few months old you pay

Only true for vhi and quinn. Aviva new kids are free until renewal and if under 1 at renewal they are free again for another year.:rolleyes:

broker2008

rubadub wrote: »

I don't complain about group schemes because I am in one!;) I do also think it is unfair, but I will take advantage, as I would if I had kids.

I just have a pet hate about the word "free" being used in marketing, I always want to know the catch.

I forgot I was actually in a group scheme TBH, my father told me that trick, just stick a few quid in a credit union and you are in a group scheme -I was with VHI anyway.

That just means that you have the maximum 10% discount applied to your policy. It might not be the cheapest or best plan though ! Now there's food for thought !

Post your details on the Banking & Insurance & Pensions forum.

broker2008

clevtrev wrote: »

with which plan ? cant see anything about it on their website

A new plan. Just heard about it yesterday.

Dades

scuby wrote: »

if the kids are added from date of birth they are free until next renewal...if you take out a policy when the child is a few months old you pay

broker2008 wrote: »

Only true for vhi and quinn. Aviva new kids are free until renewal and if under 1 at renewal they are free again for another year.:rolleyes:

Not true for VHI either.

There's nothing to say the child has to be added on it's birthday - that would be daft. They are simply not allowed charge for infants.

cynder

rubadub wrote: »

Aviva do it too :mad: do quinn?

I have no kids so do not like having to subsidise other peoples. I hate this "free" bollox, nothing is free, somebody is paying for it -in this case those with no kids.

We have 3 kids 11,5,3 and we pay over 200 for each child (got the bill there last week think it was €245 per child) so no mine are not free, i think it is because we are on company plan +

The hospital has charged vhi over 12,000 (in the last 3 years) for our eldest daughter as she is a diabetic and in and out of hospital, anyway you look at it we have made our money back...

NuMarvel

Dades wrote: »

AFAIK it is illegal for health insurance companies to charge for insurance for kids under 1 yr. Therefore the "offers" some are bandying about are just the implementation of rules they have to abide by.

I don't think this is the case. The legislation says that children can't be charged more than 50% of the adult cost, but after that it's up to the insurer to determine the child charge.

What is the case is that the "newborn free until renewal" benefit was originally introduced by BUPA when they launched. When VHI launched their Options plan the following year, this was included as a benefit. VHI extended the benefit to all members about 5 years later. Aviva have expanded on the benefit again by offering free cover to all children until the renewal after their first birthday.

Now, I'm off to the National Archives to see if there is any vacancies for an Irish health insurance Historian...

Gibs

Thanks a mill for this info and for the Conor Pope article. Was with Aviva, paying €2,400 for the family. Switched to VHI and now paying €1440. I have saved almost a grand :eek:

Best bargain alert ever:D

Orion

That's a win by any standards

broker2008

Gibs wrote: »

Thanks a mill for this info and for the Conor Pope article. Was with Aviva, paying €2,400 for the family. Switched to VHI and now paying €1440. I have saved almost a grand :eek:

Best bargain alert ever:D

But you have DOWNGRADED your plan for BOTH adults AND children !

If you ANY of you have any existing conditions you will have to serve a 2 year waiting period to increase cover - did they tell you that ?

€1,560 with Aviva will have NO DOWNGRADE for adults but downgrade for children

OR

€1,456 with Aviva for same downgrade as VHI BUT money back on GP vists and downgrade for children.

sue97

Quinn were offering free kids places as well for renewals.

muckety

I contacted vhi and they have given me free kids until renewal with no changes to cover (for us or kids) - and were very helpful to deal with! Thanks OP.

John mac

grindelwald wrote: »

We have 3 kids 11,5,3 and we pay over 200 for each child (got the bill there last week think it was €245 per child) so no mine are not free, i think it is because we are on company plan +

The hospital has charged vhi over 12,000 (in the last 3 years) for our eldest daughter as she is a diabetic and in and out of hospital, anyway you look at it we have made our money back...

we are on parents and kids, 3 kids costing 591 , just rang up and have got kids for free , they just renewed the policy,

One phone call with a saving of over €700 . Worth it i would say.

.

gizmo555

rubadub wrote: »

I have no kids so do not like having to subsidise other peoples. I hate this "free" bollox, nothing is free, somebody is paying for it -in this case those with no kids.

Coming late to this, but as Conor Pope points out in the Irish Times article linked to above, there are no private childrens hospital in Ireland, so the subsidy is actually from the parents of kids paying to insure for a service which doesn't exist to other policy holders!

As Pope puts it:

RECOGNISING THE REDUCED COST of covering children, the insurers have in recent months been cutting rates in this area and using these cuts as a promotional vehicle, although a cynic might be forgiven for asking what business they have charging so much for children in the first place?

NuMarvel

gizmo555 wrote: »

Coming late to this, but as Conor Pope points out in the Irish Times article linked to above, there are no private childrens hospital in Ireland, so the subsidy is actually from the parents of kids paying to insure for a service which doesn't exist to other policy holders!

As Pope puts it:

RECOGNISING THE REDUCED COST of covering children, the insurers have in recent months been cutting rates in this area and using these cuts as a promotional vehicle, although a cynic might be forgiven for asking what business they have charging so much for children in the first place?

There aren't any private children's hospitals in the country (yet), but the existing private hospitals can accept children for operations. My 2 year old niece recently got an ear operation carried out in the Bons Hospital in Cork (gromits or adenoids or the like).

I'm sure the range of services offered by private hospitals for children wouldn't be as extensive as those offered by public hospitals, but for relatively routine procedures, I'm sure a private hospital would accept children.

Superfin

This is definitely worth a go.

Thanks