Thanks for the reply arbitron. I am 40 and my husband is 37, we have two children, one under 3 who will go free on the plan and one aged 4. I checked the waiting periods and because we have always had insurance we won't serve any waiting period. I also checked with them regarding my husband as he is currently awaiting a diagnosis and they say that he will be covered under their policy should a need for hospitalisation occur. I got a quote of something like €92 per month for all of us, rising to €171.00 (ish, I don't have the figures in front of me) if one was to upgrade to hospital cover. I also verified that the figure of €171 p/m would only be if all four of us upgraded to hospital cover. The only catch that I can see is that if you upgrade someone to hospital cover, it in effect creates a new 12 month contract, so you will be paying the increased premium for 12 months and not until the renewal date. I need to check again if this is only for one individual or if that means that the 3 other people on the policy are also put into a contract for 12 months.
The main disadvantage I see is that if for whatever reason you did have to upgrade to hospital cover for more than one person, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, then the cover would work out as expensive if not more, than say my existing policy with Laya.