Query re switching health insurer

bend_sinister

Hello

Apologies if this is in the wrong place.

My wife has health insurance with Laya, with a policy that expires in January 2014.

Completely unexpectedly, in recent weeks her employer has offered her changed (improved) terms of employment, which includes health insurance for her and her family (which would be me and a baby on the way), with VHI.

We are obviously extremely keen to go for this as it will save us some much-needed cash. However, we were very disappointed to discover that we cannot cancel the policy with Laya - if we do, apparently they will seek to recover the full cost of the oustanding policy...?

I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience of being in a similar situation, and if there is anything we can do to get out of the Laya policy? The prospect of my wife's employer paying for health insurance not only for her but her family is far too good an opportunity to turn down, and money is extremely tight at the moment so to have this dangled in front of us, only to discover that we are tied into Laya until January, is frustrating to say the least.

If, for example, we were to just cancel the direct debit to Laya and essentially stop paying for the policy, how likely are they to pursue us for the money/sue us, etc? Is this basically an extremely inadvisable course of action?

Any wise words appreciated...

Thanks

JDxtra

Never just cancel the DD. Your wife would have agreed a 12 month contract, which although now unnecessary is still a contract.

Maybe see if you can drop to a low cost plan, or transfer to VHI from next January?

shannon82

Has she told laya that her company s now going to be paying for the policy

bend_sinister

Thanks for the replies.

@JDXtra - cheers for that, will follow that up about the low-cost plan.

@shannon82 - yeah she mentioned that to Laya, it didn't seem to make a difference.

okiss

You have told us that your wife is pregnant at the moment. If she wants to go as a private patient for maternity I would advise her to stay with Laya.
All health insurance plans have a year wait before you can get maternity cover so if she changes over to VHI now she may not be covered for this.

If your wife decides to go as a private patient she will have to pay some of the costs herself. She will be able to get some of the costs back via the med one form from the tax office.
I would advise her to contact Laya and ask them about the cover she has on her plan for maternity.
In a nice way she could tell Laya that she will be making a claim for €3000 to €4000 in the next few months.
This may help her in moving to the vhi.
Just to be aware that if she goes as a public patient to have the baby she won't have any costs. Just advise her to be early for her appointments as some public clinic's book everyone in at the same time - the earlier your there the quicker your seen.

coylemj

JDxtra wrote: »

Never just cancel the DD. Your wife would have agreed a 12 month contract, which although now unnecessary is still a contract.

Or a variation on the above which is that she may have signed for a loan from a third party (financial institution) to pay the annual premium upfront to Laya so the DD is actually paying off this loan in which case she will have to keep up the repayments meaning that she is stuck with Laya until the next renewal.

Cushie Butterfield

From rte.ie 5th December 2012:


'On June 18 this year (2012) Laya – formerly Quinn Healthcare - changed its cancellation terms: If you have joined Laya or renewed your policy after June 18 after that date and you cancel now you’ll have to pay the balance of the premium owed up until the renewal date.

So, the message to Laya customers is: you can switch without penalty only if you joined or renewed prior to June 18 this year (2012). Otherwise you’ll have to wait until the contract period is up to cancel if you want to avoid penalties.'

So, the best you can hope for, as mentioned already is to move to a lower cost plan, & dump them as soon as your present contract is due for renewal.

Of course, there is nothing stopping you instructing your bank to cancel your direct debit, but you would still owe Laya the outstanding amount. They do not report any defaults to Irish Credit Bureau , so you could pay them off what you owe over a longer term that suits you, though if you don't agree this with them beforehand they may well pass your details on to a collection agency to hound you, & perhaps add a penalty fee/admin charges on top of your original debt.

ANXIOUS

Do waiting times exist if you are switching from another insurance company?

peteb2

For pregnancy - yes.

LostArt

ANXIOUS wrote: »

Do waiting times exist if you are switching from another insurance company?

only if you are switching to a plan with higher benefits than you currently have

MersD

I renewed my policy with Laya Healthcare in January 2014 and it included me and my adult daughter. Unfortunately for me I paid for the full year up front - €2334.40. Then my daughter's employer agreed to pay her healthcare for her which is great. But they did not get their act together for a while and when I went to cancel her off my policy this week (and hopefully get a reasonable refund) I found that I cannot get any refund as I did not cancel her within 14 days of my renewal.

I am livid about this and they have quoted me a rule in their book (who looks at rule books until there is a problem!) which backs them up - so no refund. Is there anything I can do?

LostArt

You can switch her to their cheapest plan, Essential Secure or Assure Vitality. Cost is €514 for the year. They'll have to refund you the difference

MersD

Many thanks for that. I will look into it.