‘We switched – saving €5k over two years’
BART and Rosemarie Whelan have saved over €5,000 since they asked for our advice in 2018 when looking into cheaper health cover.
They switched from the Old Plan B Options (Health Plus Extra) to another corporate plan with the VHI that was half the price (€2,745 cheaper per year for two people).
They’ve renewed their policy twice since then. They had a few health issues, but the new policy has worked out fine and they have no regrets.
‘We’ve used it a few times and found it was very good. We’re very happy with it,’ Rosemarie told us this week.
At the time they switched, we asked Totalhealthcover.ie’s Dermot Goode to look into their needs. At the time (March 2018), he advised the couple, who live in Donegal, to consider the VHI’s Company Plan Plus 1.3, Laya’s Simply Connect Plus or Irish Life Health’s Bfit1.
We also urged them, as always, to go over every detail of the plan first, which they did with help from the VHI, which was very helpful.
In the end, they chose the VHI’s Company Plan Plus 1.3, a corporate plan.
However, Mr Goode advised that health insurers don’t tend to have plans within their product ranges that are the same at a cheaper price.
‘Some people will say I don’t want to leave VHI. But the VHI does not have the same cover cheaper. We have to say in that case that if you want the exact same cover then you should stay on the same plan,’ he said. ‘If you want to switch to another insurer and don’t mind paying a small excess, if you’re open to that, we’d probably look at Laya. There’s not an orthopaedic shortfall. Laya’s Simply Connect Plus has full orthopaedic cover.’
The main difference between Health Plus Extra and Simply Connect Plus are quite small excesses that are worth paying for the substantial decrease in annual cost. There are also many ways in which the cover is better on Simply Connect Plus. But do make sure to check it suits your needs.
You can easily compare policies on the Health Insurance Authority’s website www.hia.ie.