Thanks, Bear. I hadn't actually thought of it as lying to my insurer, but of course, it would be, so that would indeed not be advisable.
For anyone else who might find themselves in this situation, here's what I learned from the Irish insurers.
For all providers:
- To claim against health insurance in Ireland, you must be resident in Ireland for more than 180 days in the year.
- If you go abroad and do not maintain health insurance anywhere, you must serve waiting periods for all insurers on your return to Ireland.
Aviva:
You should not continue an Aviva policy in Ireland unless you are resident for at least 180 days per year.
If you return to Ireland after residing in another country and did take out health insurance in that country, when you take out health insurance in Ireland again, you will still have to serve all waiting periods, but if a claim arose, they would look at the health insurance from that country at point of claim.
Quinn:
You may join QUINN-healthcare on their lowest costing scheme and on your return to Ireland, you would not be required to serve waiting periods. You could not, however, make any claims on the policy e.g. during trips home, as you must be resident in Ireland for 6 months of each membership year in order to be covered in Ireland.
Quinn recognises BUPA UK in England and therefore if you were to join BUPA UK, if you join Quinn on returning to Ireland and within 13 weeks of your BUPA cancellation date, you may be able to avail of continuity of cover - this means any waiting periods you have already served you will not be liable to serve again. Waiting periods would apply to any conditions or benefits excluded on the BUPA UK policy.
VHI:
If you take out a healthcare plan in the UK, upon moving back to Ireland this policy will not be recognised and you cannot use it towards your waiting periods.
Two other VHI options are
Option 1:
Global from Vhi Healthcare is International Private Health Insurance for Irish residents who are moving, travelling or studying abroad for more than 6 months. Full details on this policy can be viewed
here.
When you return to Ireland after being insured on Global, your cover can revert back to your existing Irish healthcare plan and you just pick up where you left off.
Option 2:
You can maintain a policy while you are away. Upon your return to Ireland, you can pick up where you left off.