Vhi Renewal verus Laya

shinabhil

Hi,

First time ever... thinking about switching Health Insurance,

HIA showed massive difference in two companies in relation to Vhi Forward Plan level 1 and Laya Total Health Select

Has anyone any experience with changing, our renewal date is Dec 8th so need to get moving and on that note, what exactly do I do to move.

I have had orthopedic surgery in the past and I presume this would be considered an pre-existing condition, again I am not sure..

What is the most lenght of time I would have to wait to have orthopedics covered if I switch. I have been fully insured since childhood and am now 50 with no break in cover ever.

I cant believe how conditioned I have become to not switching....

Any help would be much appreciated

Toots

I've switched providers nearly every year or two purely because of price.

To move your cover, all you do is take out the policy with your new provider, then get in touch with VHI by phone (and follow up with a letter or email) saying you don't want to renew your policy. Just make sure if you pay by DD that you cancel that, in case they forget to do it on their end and you end up getting charged (that happened me with GLO when I switched).

I'm not sure how it would work with pre-existing conditions, ie would it be that you've got no cover at all, or would it be the case that you would have cover to the same level you would have had on your old policy but there would be a waiting period on extra benefits (if you took out a policy that offered better cover than the one you currently have). I remember querying this when I was pregnant as my policy was up for renewal mid way through my pregnancy, and I was told that the cover I'd have would be the same, but there was a 52 week waiting period for anything extra.

As to the max waiting times, I've got no idea. I'd recommend going on to the Laya website and using their online chat service, I've used it a few times and they've been very helpful. They'd be able to tell you exactly what would and wouldn't be covered, and what waiting times (if any) you'd be looking at.

shinabhil

Thanks so much for that...

I had a good experience on the online chat with Laya and think I understand it now,

I will have the same cover as I currently have with VHI with laya for my orthopedic condition, the increase in cover will kick in in two years.

Any thing new that may crop up will be covered immediately on a policy with enhanced cover.

Just cant believe the difference between the two companies is over 1k per adult !!!

I guess the difference made me suspicious and nervous about switching... The fear of leaving VHI was overwhelming - why I dont know

Toots

If you've been with the same company all your life it can be really daunting to switch, I was with VHI since birth, then when I got my own policy when I started working, I automatically went with VHI because that's what I'd always had. The first year was fine, then the renewal price was huge, and I shopped around and moved to Vivas, but I was still really nervous that I'd have problems! :pac:

skipper57

Hi,
Our family moved from VHI after 30+ years, and now just renewing with Laya for the third year. We will be renewing with Total health select again this year, it is a brilliant policy. We have been unfortunate enough to be able to claim for a 5-day hospital stay for our teenager and also a few thousand in out-patient claims.
I am told Laya now have an app for claims, but I never used it, just claimed by post and got refund in less than 2 weeks from memory, but no delay as such.
Hope you don't need to claim much!!