Which corporate health plans offer the best value?

Q

A friend told me that ‘corporate health insurance plans’ offer the best value – and they even escaped the latest round of increases. Can you recommend which ones to go for?

A

Your friend is right. You can not only avoid the increases, but also get better cover – if you know what to look for.

Every health insurer has a range of plans they use to woo their most important and savvy customers: big companies. Insurers love big corporate clients because they can snap up thousands of customers in one go. However, these clients will have advisers who (unlike the general public) are very picky about which policy they choose.

And so they have special policies with all the ‘bells and whistles’ which they use to woo corporate clients.

To put off non-corporate clients they sometimes have odd, unappealing names such as the VHI’s PMI 3613.

But be careful – you don’t just want the corporate plan, you want the latest one. Every year health insurers update their plans. The big multinationals have advisers that will keep them up to date. But the old corporate plans remain in place but with a gradual decrease in cover quality. See the table on the right for some of the best mediumrange plans.

Q

Are An Post’s savings products worth considering after the latest cuts in interest rates?

A

The cuts were fairly savage. Worst hit was the four-year Solidarity Bond – its interest rate was almost halved to 0.5%.

An Post’s three-year savings bond used to pay 0.83%, which was bad enough. Now it’s 0.33% a year, which is abysmal, even allowing for the fact that the interest is tax-free. See the panel on the far right for details.

I know bank deposits aren’t much better (see Best Buys panel below). But An Post is asking you to lock your money away for considerable periods for very little return.

It’s some comfort that inflation is non-existent, so at least your money doesn’t lose value.

But now that even the rates of An Post, the last resort of riskaverse savers, have fallen so low, savers should consider alternatives to deposits such as low-risk investment funds in property, Government bonds, and even shares.

Q

I am self-employed but am caring for my mum for the past two years. Can I get the carer’s allowance?

A

To qualify you must not be engaged in employment, selfemployment, training or education courses outside the home for more than 15 hours a week.

However, you can work more hours than that if it is inside the home, subject to approval, as long as the care of your mother isn’t compromised in any way.

During any absences, adequate care must be arranged for her.

The crunch for you is probably the means test. This disregards the first €665 of gross weekly income for two cohabiting people and €332.50 if you live alone.

The first €7.60 of weekly means is disregarded. After that the payment is reduced as post-means test income rises. The full carer’s allowance is €204 a week for looking after one person and €306 for two. See welfare.ie for details.

If you don’t qualify for the allowance, there is a home carer’s tax credit of €1,000 for looking after someone over 65 but only for married couples or those in a civil