Aviva insurance to impose fifth price rise in two years

ABOUT 370,000 subscribers to the State’s third largest health insurance provider are to be hit with a fifth price increase in less than two years in a move that will add about €150 to the annual cost of a family policy.

Aviva said it is to increase its premiums by as much 7 per cent from next month. It blamed the increase on a significant increase in claims.

In May it rolled out a price increase of 2.7 per cent, just two months after it increased the cost of premiums by 15 per cent. A price increase of 9 per cent was introduced in August 2011, following a 14 per cent increase the previous March.

The company said its latest increases of between 4 per cent and 7 per cent on a range of its plans would come into effect on October 15th.

It said claims paid had increased by 30 per cent in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year. It indicated that in some instances the cost of particular claims had increased by up to 46 per cent.

A company spokesman said it regretted any price increases, and added that the company always strived “to ensure they are kept to a minimum”.

“Our priority is to ensure that we meet our customers’ healthcare needs and that they can continue to enjoy the peace of mind our plans provide,” he said.

The VHI, the State’s largest health insurer, and Quinn Healthcare have also imposed multiple price increases since the beginning of 2011, with some policies increasing in price by more than 65 per cent in that period.

Figures released in recent days by the health insurance regulator show Aviva continued to increase its share of the health insurance market last year. In 2011 the multinational grew its market share in Ireland to 17.7 per cent, up from 13.7 per cent the previous year.

The number of Irish people holding private health insurance has declined sharply since the recession took hold.

In December 2008 the number of people with health insurance stood at 2,297,000. Since then, the market has been in decline, with the number insured falling to 2,163,000 at the end of last year, a loss of 134,000 in three years.

Figures released by the Health Insurance Authority in June showed 2.123 million people – or 46.3 per cent of the population – held private health insurance. That represented a drop of 16,000 since March and a decrease of 61,000, or 2.8 per cent, since June 2011.

The authority’s survey showed the percentage of people who believed health insurance was the most important employment benefit had risen to 29 per cent from 18 per cent in the authority’s 2010 survey. For people aged between 18 and 34 it is the most valued employee benefit, ahead of pension, company car and flexible working arrangements.