Audrey Spence managing director of Independent HealthCare Solutions (IHS) says NI businesses are potentially throwing away thousands of pounds every year by automatically renewing their healthcare policies

NORTHERN Ireland businesses are potentially throwing away thousands of pounds every year as a result of automatically renewing their healthcare policies according to one of the province’s leading health insurance brokers.

Independent HealthCare Solutions (IHS) is Northern Ireland’s largest independent corporate and private health insurance broker.

And managing director Audrey Spence claims that local companies are throwing away vast amounts of money by simply not shopping round for a better deal when their annual healthcare policy expires.

In the past 11 years, IHS has managed to save its own client base, which includes some of the province’s biggest companies such as Belfast City Airport, Donnelly Group and McAvoy Group, on average up to 25% on renewal costs.

However, too many companies allow their policies to renew automatically, thus costing them a lot of money, according to IHS’ Audrey Spence.

“With the pace and pressures of modern day business, a lot of company bosses are happy to renew their healthcare policies automatically, more often than not because they feel they don’t have the time to devote to shopping around,” said Ms Spence.

“This is a huge mistake as the savings that can be gained from examining the market can be very significant and, importantly, directly affect a company’s bottom line.

“Companies will invest time into pitching for new business but the savings that can be enjoyed from not rushing into an automatic policy renewal could, for many companies, be on a par or even greater than picking up that all-important new account – with a lot less effort involved.

“At Independent Healthcare Solutions, we have maintained a proud record of never having lost an existing client to a competitor.

“And I would go as far as saying we can make a substantial difference to around 95% of all policy renewals that come our way due to the fact that we’re totally independent and are only concerned in securing the best possible deals for our clients.

“We work with all major and local healthcare providers to ensure that we offer the most competitive policies available to meet specific needs,” she added.

The latest company to benefit from IHS’ services is taxi firm Value Cabs which enjoyed a saving of 52 per cent following a review of their medical cover.

“We didn’t realise that you could save so much money by using an independent broker and we’re naturally delighted with the results that we’ve achieved through local company Independent Healthcare Solutions,” said Value Cabs director Stephen McCausland.

“We would strongly recommend companies to treat their policy renewals with the attention they deserve and to shop around for the most competitive quotes as it can save significant amounts of money,” he added.

Established in 2002, Independent HealthCare Solutions is based in Hillsborough and offers specialist and independent advice across a number of areas including group and individual medical insurance, cash plans, new and existing schemes, competitive renewals, discounted corporate schemes and assistance in removing health and exclusion issues.

For more information or a free ‘no obligation’ consultation, visit www.indhealthcare.co.uk or call 028 9268 1010.