Health Insurance What happens if i cancel and want to take it out again

[jb81]

Hi There

I have a general query, and I don't know much about the Health Insurance to begin with.
My wife has a health insurance policy for herself and our three kids. Have never had to use it thank God. But it is expensive. And our financial situation is not great.
My question is, if we cancelled it now ( my wife is 35, kids 1,3,4 ) and down the line in a couple of years if/when our finances improve wanted to take it our again, what are the main things to be aware off. Assuming we have no major illnesses / ailments between now and then? Does it effect cost, cooling period, anything else due to her age??

Any help would be great

Regards
JB

 

[snowyb]

jb81,

If your wife cancels now and rejoins in a few years time, she will be treated as a new customer for health insurance purposes.
This just means that she would be covered for accidents and injuries for the first 6 months and then fully covered for new illnesses after that.
If she developed an illness during the cancelled time, there would be a five year waiting time before this illness would be covered under health
insurance in the future.

Price wise, she will be given a 2% credit for every year that she had health insurance in the past, so there should be no loadings applied,
due to 'lifetime community rating'.
The following link shows a list of questions and answers relating to 'Lifetime Community Rating'.
https://www.hia.ie/consumer-information/lifetime-community-rating-explained

I'm not sure what plan they are on at the moment or their renewal date.
There may be cheaper alternatives.
Laya have a childrens offer from April 1st 2018 where you pay for the first child and the rest of the children are free.
Flex 125 Explore @ price 327 covers all 3 children.
https://www.hia.ie/news/laya-healthcare-price-changes-01042018

There are 2 plans; Essential Health 300(price 234) and Essential Connect Family (238) both have this same offer until March 31st 2018.
[broken link removed]

The following Laya adult options are cheap alternatives;
[broken link removed]

Regards, Snowyb