A second insurer is to offer life-insurance policies to people who have contracted hepatitis C or HIV from the State under a scheme operated by the Health Service Executive (HSE), writes Laura Slattery.
Bank of Ireland Life will join Eagle Star in offering life assurance and mortgage protection policies to up to 2,000 people who are eligible for the scheme, which was set up last September.
Under the scheme, eligible people pay the standard premiums charged by participating insurers with the State covering any extra costs associated with the higher risk of a claim.
But the support groups who campaigned for its introduction say take-up of the life-assurance policies has been hampered by an "intrusive" level of documentation required by the HSE and other restrictions.
The maximum amount of life assurance cover available is €420,000, but this limit increases to €525,000 if the person's income exceeds a certain threshold.
The chief executive of the Irish Haemophilia Society, Brian O'Mahony, said requiring its members to provide P60s, recent payslips and certificates of earnings - or tax returns and other documents if they are self-employed - in order to prove their incomes "makes a mockery" of the original aim of the scheme - to ensure that people with State-acquired hepatitis C and HIV can secure insurance in the same way as the general population.
"Normally if someone is taking out life insurance, no proof of income is required unless the policy is worth €3 million or more, but our members are being made to jump through hoops," he said. The administrators of the scheme have said the information is required by the Comptroller and Auditor General's office.
Eleanor O'Mahony, chairwoman of hepatitis C support group Positive Action, said its members were concerned by the confidentiality issues that might arise when asking an employer for proof of earnings, while some people have been frustrated because the limits set for the mortgage protection policies under the scheme restrict the value of the property they may want to buy.
The maximum amount of mortgage protection cover on offer is €394,000 or the price of an average Dublin house plus 25 per cent (around €505,000).
Obtaining a mortgage without life cover is "very difficult", according to Bank of Ireland Life's head of underwriting, Noel Finnegan. The typical loadings on life policies for people with hepatitis C mean that they would pay "anything from half as much again to three or even four times the normal premium, for the more severe cases".
The take-up rate for the scheme, which is expected to cost the State around €90 million a year over the next 25 years, has fallen short of the numbers who have a Health Amendment Act (HAA) card, which was given to around 2,000 people who were infected with hepatitis C or HIV by the State through contaminated blood products.
A spokeswoman for Eagle Star, Helen McIver, said there had been a 6 per cent take-up rate, which means around 120 people have so far secured the insurance.
She said this was a "promising start" and added that eligible people should sign up to the scheme during the 12-month "open period", which ends on September 11th, 2008. After this date, only restricted cover is available.
Positive Action is meeting the HSE this week to discuss the introduction of a travel insurance policy under the scheme. Ms O'Mahony said she was optimistic that a travel policy would be available by March 12th, the deadline laid down in the legislation that set up the Hepatitis C Insurance Scheme.
"This is very important for our members, because a lot of them are actually travelling without travel insurance at the moment, which could be very serious if they get sick abroad," she added.
More information is available at www.hepcinsurance.ie
