Some 650,000 Irish customers due cash back in matter…

Some 650,000 Irish customers due cash back in matter of days - with average of €240

Thousands of Laya Healthcare customers are in line for a refund, with the average family expected to be able to claim €240 back.

The health insurer is the second-biggest in the market, with around 600,000 members.

The move comes after VHI and Irish Life also gave refunds earlier this year after fewer people claimed for procedures in public hospitals due to Covid -related overcrowding.

Laya will refund each adult customer €85, irrespective of their plan. In addition, each child will also get a refund of €35.

In May, VHI refunded its members between €75 and €300 per adult due to a fall in claims.

It said it was the third time it had waived a portion of premium for its customers since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In April, Irish Life Healthcare passed on a reduction in the State levy on health insurance plans for its customers. The move saved a family around €100.

In March 2020, Laya also refunded its customers after Covid caused private hospitals and clinics to close to people with private health insurance.

The refunds amounted to €195 for every adult member and €60 for every child member. For example, a family of two adults and children were refunded €510.

Laya said the latest refund would apply to those who had an active policy on June 1 this year.

The refund will be paid into the bank account of the primary member on the policy in July if Laya has bank details on record.

If it does not have details, the payment will be made by cheque from August.

Laya emphasised additional information can be found on its website, www.layahealthcare.ie, and there is no need to call about the refunds.

In a message to members, Laya managing director Donal Clancy said: ““This latest development announced by Laya is welcome news for all their members. It follows on from similar initiatives by both Irish Life Health and VHI who announced rebates in April & May of this year. Families throughout the country are really struggling with the soaring cost of living and these rebates or member supports will come as a welcome input into household budgets.

"Laya have confirmed that they will be giving this ‘member support’ payment to the tune of €85 per adult and €35 per child to all members who have a live health insurance policy in place on the 1st of June 2022. So for a family of 2 adults and 2 children, this adds up to €240.

"And all Laya policyholders will receive this - irrespective of the level of cover held. For any employees insured through a company paid group scheme, the rebate will still be paid directly to the individual member.

"Laya have structured this payment in such a way that no action is required by the member and this will be issued automatically through July and August.

"These rebates are made possible by the fact that the insurers appear to be incurring lower than expected claims particularly from the public hospital sector.

"We are hopeful that this downward pressure on health insurance costs will mean little or no premium increases for the rest of 2022.

"On a cautionary note, these are once off payments and consumers still need to be reviewing their cover at each renewal to make sure they’re on the most up to date version of their plan. A rebate of €85 is good news but if you’re still insured on a dated plan, your savings could be 5 to 10 times this figure!”

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