Removing a person from a VHI policy

Staplor

My father in law has a policy for himself and his wife with VHI, she's now long term sick and being looked after in hospital, the doctors advised him to remove her from health insurance now, because shes in the system and the state will look after her.

VHI say he cannot remove her until next January 1st, the renewal date, does anyone know of anyway around this? They are on Plan B.

broker2008

You can cancel but there is a penalty,. Ask them what is the cancellation charge. It sounds as if there is already an inpatient claim.

Sure if they say you cant cancel, you have 180 inpatient days that they can pay as a private patient at a cost of nearly 900 euro per night - €162k worth.

NuMarvel

broker2008 wrote: »

You can cancel but there is a penalty,. Ask them what is the cancellation charge. It sounds as if there is already an inpatient claim.

Sure if they say you cant cancel, you have 180 inpatient days that they can pay as a private patient at a cost of nearly 900 euro per night - €162k worth.

Obviously the policy holder should first check that they would have full cover in the hospital, for the doctors, for the treatment, that no waiting periods apply, or there's no specific cover or time limit on the treatment being received.

We don't want someone being left with a €162,000+ bill because they weren't advised to check cover first .

Staplor

Thanks for the responses, she's in the public system now, and they've applied for the Fair Deal Scheme.

Could he move insurer pay a penalty and take up full cover elsewhere?

Ms_Opinionated

Changes like that can be made only at renewal with VHI as per T+C's. This is regardless of whether there is a claim or not. So its something that will have to wait until renewal.
Or otherwise, you can cancel the whole policy and breach the contract. Penalty to do this depends on whether there is a claim. If not, you will owe rest of government levy paid on behalf of each person and a cancellation fee of €50. If there is a claim, you cant cancel until renewal.
I assume your dad wants to stay insured so hang on until renewal and then take your mum off without hassle!!

sgt.bilko

Just on a side note but on a similiar line.

My father in law had a policy with himself , the mother in law and 2 daughters on it.

Sadly he passed away in June. Will we entitled to a refund on his part of the policy from date of death without penalty?

Will the policy be voided as he was the policy holder or transferred to his widow?

pixbyjohn

sgt.bilko wrote: »

Just on a side note but on a similiar line.

My father in law had a policy with himself , the mother in law and 2 daughters on it.

Sadly he passed away in June. Will we entitled to a refund on his part of the policy from date of death without penalty?

Will the policy be voided as he was the policy holder or transferred to his widow?

It would be best to ask the insurance company this question.

sgt.bilko

pixbyjohn wrote: »

It would be best to ask the insurance company this question.

I would but as I'm not on the policy they won't discuss with me.

Hence why I'm asking other boardsies for advice in case they had the same problem.

Staplor

Well I did but they said not til renewal, next January, I was looking for a sneaky alternative to a pensioner paying over €1000

broker2008

sgt.bilko wrote: »

Just on a side note but on a similiar line.

My father in law had a policy with himself , the mother in law and 2 daughters on it.

Sadly he passed away in June. Will we entitled to a refund on his part of the policy from date of death without penalty?

Will the policy be voided as he was the policy holder or transferred to his widow?

They should take him off from the date of death and make refund of the premiums paid for his portion of the policy. Not sure though if they will make an endorsement to the policy until the next renewal date or rewrite the policy to have his wife as the poliycholder until the next renewal date. Do let us know though.

sgt.bilko

broker2008 wrote: »

They should take him off from the date of death and make refund of the premiums paid for his portion of the policy. Not sure though if they will make an endorsement to the policy until the next renewal date or rewrite the policy to have his wife as the poliycholder until the next renewal date. Do let us know though.

Will do. Unfortunately, things got on top of us as they do during the year and this slipped through the net.

Ms_Opinionated

The policy can be taken over by his widow and refund will be given for his portion. If there are financial difficulties, as far as im aware, you mother in law can review the policy if she takes it over and can reduce the cover if necessary.
Sorry for your loss