I have renewed my health cover, can I still make changes?

Your Questions

Q MY health insurance renewal date has passed and I have discovered that my old and very expensive plan has now automatically renewed and the first direct debit has been paid. Can I still change my cover to another plan to reduce my costs? A THE first point to note here is that technically you are now locked into another annual contract with your health insurer. If this is with either Laya Healthcare or Irish Life Health, you will be allowed to make mid-year changes to your plan with no penalty.

However, if you are insured with Vhi Healthcare, you are not permitted to make any changes mid-year, according to Dermot Goode of Totalhealth cover. ie. So, if you’re insured with

Laya or Irish Life Health, contact them immediately to review your cover and select a more appropriate plan for your needs and to match your budget. Q I’M 41 with a husband and two children, and was contemplating starting a pension. My employer will facilitate this, but not contribute. Now I’ve read about the upcoming auto-enrolment, so I might just wait for that, but my friend says that I’m an idiot to do so. Can you advise me? My husband has a pension through his work but it not that big.

A

THE fact that you are considering taking out a pension at all means that you’re definitely not an idiot. But your friend is probably right about not waiting. The Government wants to ensure a greater number of people have a better income in retirement by introducing the auto-enrolment scheme.

But such large initiatives can take years to put in place with its introduction currently planned for 2022.

CEO of the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) Jerry Moriarty says his sense would be that you really cannot afford to wait for it. It is often the case that only one spouse in a household has a pension fund.

In many cases, both parties may be under the misguided belief that this one pension will be enough to provide for them both in retirement.

But more often than not these pension pots are simply too small to sustain two people once they are no longer working.

Mr Moriarty says you should take steps to start a pension now. Take the assistance offered by your employer, and depending what level of advice you can get, there you might also engage an independent financial adviser for their expertise.

Time is as important as money when it comes to pensions. With the compounding effect of growth, the money you put in now could double or treble by the time you retire. Couple that with the tax relief, and it’s the best investment you can make. Q MY health insurance renewal notice has landed and I see that I am being charged the full adult rate for my 20-year-old dependent just like the other adults on the policy. Is this correct, as I thought they were entitled to lower rates? A IT is correct as not all insurers offer these special ‘young adult rates’ on all their policies. The good news is that you don’t have to pay this higher rate and significant savings are possible. All you have to do is contact your health insurer and ask for the closest equivalent plan to the existing scheme that offers a young adult rate. You should be able to get your 20-yearold dependent insured on good cover for anything from €370 to €600, depending on the plan selected, according to Dermot Goode of Totalhealthcover.ie. This compares with a full adult rate of between €1,100 and €1,500 on many mid-range plans, which means you can keep your dependent insured but also generate good savings for the year.

Q

I HAVE just signed a one-year discount deal for my electricity. But as soon as I did so the provider announced a price rise, to take effect next month. Can I now get out of the contract, on the basis that the energy company changed the terms and conditions? A ENERGY companies have begun to increase prices for the second time since the summer. They are blaming higher wholesale energy costs. Be prepared for higher bills as we enter the cold winter period.

All energy companies are likely to announce price rises in the coming months.

The bad news is that you can’t get out of the contract on the basis that the terms and conditions have changed, but the good news is that there is a 14-day cooling-off period.

If you are within the time period then you can opt out of the contract and choose another provider that you judge to be cheaper.