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28th August 2018
01:34pm BST
A "once-off" VHI online advantage offer – which would see cash to the value of "at least" €100 land in customers' accounts – is available to VHI policyholders only for a few more days, with a deadline of Friday 31 August fast approaching.
This free cash offer is available to all VHI customers, with up to €150 expected for those with family plans. Higher amounts still could be sought by those with young adults on their policy.
Dermot Goode, Ireland’s leading health insurance consultant with totalhealthcover.ie, says they believe that more than 50% of people are either unaware of the offer, or don’t realise that the deadline is fast approaching,
“We deal with VHI policyholders every day and our sense is that a large portion have not yet registered for this offer, which is why we are trying to get this message out there.
"It’s a once-off offer – and is essentially free money!"
Goode explains the reasons why an initiative that is essentially giving away money would be rolled out."Obviously, the insurer has its own reasons for rolling out the initiative – it is to entice members to pay their premium by direct debit and move to paperless communication with VHI which will help to reduce their overheads significantly.
"More importantly for VHI, it will enable them to get consent from members to receive other services as well in the future.”
However, Goode also advised that health insurance members should be careful not to view this as a discount or reduction in their premium.
“There are much more important factors to consider when choosing your policy and provider and members should always shop around at renewal to secure the best deals.
"For example, many members who will avail of this offer could still be insured on the wrong policy and could still be overpaying each year for their cover."
For those who opt to pay their premium by direct debit, they will be paid a once-off cash payment direct to their bank accounts of €50 on 1 September. In addition to this, if they opt to go ‘paperless’ for all their documentation, VHI will pay a further €50 for each adult insured on the policy in addition to the direct debit reward – also on 1 September. To avail of this, members must log on to My VHI and register for the reward by clicking on ‘Online Advantage’. However, policyholders should remember that this is a once-off offer for going paperless and paying by direct debit. To avail of this, you must register online by 1 September.
