Claims and excesses
Excesses
- An excess is the first part of any insurance claim that you have to pay yourself.
- An inpatient excess is the amount you might pay on private hospital claims.
- An out-patient excess is the amount that is deducted from the amount payable to you.
Outpatient Claims
You will have to pay for the treatment first, keep a receipt and claim at the end of your policy year. Features of this cover often include the following:
- There is often an amount payable in relation to total out-patient claims per year.
- There is often an annual excess i.e. an amount that is deducted from the amount payable to you. If there is more than one person on your policy, the insurer may apply a larger family excess to your claims. Where there is more than one adult on a policy, you will need to consider whether it is more cost effective to have each adult on a separate policy with an individual excess, or all on the same policy with a family excess applied to all outpatient claims.
- Usually, you can only claim for a portion of the cost of the visit to your practitioner. This is called the ‘allowable expenses'. For example, a GP's visit may cost €50 but you may only be allowed to claim €20. The €20 is the allowable expense.
Some policies will have all three of these features. It could be the case that even though the total of your outpatient expenses is more than the out-patient excess, you might still not be in a position to claim because your total allowable expenses have not yet reached the level of the out-patient excess.
| Outpatient Expense | Actual cost of visit | Benefit Provided per visit | Number of visits | Expenses incurred | Allowable Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP visit | €50 | €20 | 6 | €300 | €120 |
| Physiotherapy | €70 | €40 | 2 | €140 | €80 |
| Dental | €90 | €20 | 1 | €90 | €20 |
| Subtotal | €530 | €220 | |||
| Less, out-patient excess | -€300 | ||||
| Amount you may claim back | €0 |
| Outpatient Expense | Actual cost of visit | Benefit provided per visit | Number of visits | Expenses incurred | Allowable Expenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP visit | €50 | €20 | 10 | €500 | €200 |
| Physiotherapy | €70 | €40 | 6 | €420 | €240 |
| Dental | €90 | €20 | 1 | €90 | €20 |
| Subtotal | €1,010 | €460 | |||
| Less, out-patient excess | -€300 | ||||
| Amount you may claim back | €160 |
Outpatient Claim Time Limits
Vhi Healthcare
Vhi Healthcare outpatient claims must be submitted within 3 months of the end of the policy year. Vhi may, at their own discretion, allow claims that are submitted outside of the 3 month limit.
Vhi Healthcare has a web-based application called Snap and Send which you can access through your membership profile, allowing you to submit receipts at any time of the year. Alternatively you can complete a claims form issued by Vhi and send it together with the original receipts at the end of the policy year.
Laya Healthcare
Laya Healthcare outpatient claims must be submitted within twelve months from the end of your policy year. If your receipts are not received within this timeframe, your benefits will not be paid
Laya Healthcare has a member app which will allow you to submit your receipts at any time of the year. Alternatively you can complete a claims form issued by Laya and submit it together with the original receipts at the end of the policy year.
Irish Life Health
Irish Life Health outpatient claims must be submitted within 6 months of the end of the policy year. Customers may also submit outpatient claims throughout the policy year if they prefer, using Irish Life Health's web-based application, which you can access through your membership profile. Alternatively you can complete a claims form issued by Irish Life Health and submit it together with the original receipts at the end of the policy year.