Aviva Health has welcomed today’s ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which has found that Ireland is in breach of its EU obligations by exempting VHI Healthcare from being regulated by the Central Bank.
Aviva Health has welcomed today’s ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which has found that Ireland is in breach of its EU obligations by exempting VHI Healthcare from being regulated by the Central Bank.
Siobhan Fay, managing director, Aviva Health said: "This is a significant development for the health insurance market in Ireland. For too long, VHI has played by different rules. The ECJ’s ruling means that the unfair advantages VHI has enjoyed over its competitors must now be addressed.
"Clearly VHI will need some time to consider what measures it will need to put in place to conform to prudential requirements and it should be afforded reasonable time to do so."
However, Ms Fay said: “VHI should move to immediately conform to the Consumer Protection Code requirements of the Central Bank and Aviva is calling on VHI to do this with immediate effect. The Consumer Protection Code exists to ensure that all customers are treated fairly and it is only appropriate that these protections apply to all policy holders.
"Aviva believes that there are financing options available to VHI to meet its solvency needs. Such options should be considered to avoid the situation whereby either the taxpayer or policy holders would have to pick up the bill,” concluded Ms Fay.