Health insurance experts are advising VHI policy holders to act fast to avail of the VHI online advantage offer before it ends on Friday, August 31.
It is a once-off, free cash offer and if members do not register before the deadline, they will miss out on at least €100 landing in their account from early September.
For families, the free cash could be worth up to €150 and for those with young adults on their policy, the amount could be even higher.
Health insurance consultant with totalhealthcover.ie, Dermot Goode, said 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 policy holders 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," he said.
"It’s a once-off offer - and is essentially free money. 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, Totalhealthcover.ie said 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," he said. "For example, many members who will avail of this offer could still insured on the wrong policy and could still be overpaying each year for their cover."
