Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading explained

The loading is applied for a maximum of 10 years. That means, once you have held hospital cover for 10 continuous years, you stop paying it as long as you retain your hospital cover.

That means, if you take out hospital cover for the first time when you’re 35, your loading will be locked in at 10% for 10 years and removed when you’re 45 as long as you’ve maintained hospital cover continuously for that period.

If you cancel your hospital cover after this time, the loading may be reapplied if you decide to take up hospital cover again. Depending how much time has passed since you last held hospital cover, your LHC loading may be higher when you take out hospital cover again.

So long as you hold hospital cover on 1 July after your 31st birthday (known as your ‘base day’), then you’re entitled to ‘permitted days without hospital cover’. This means, you’re allowed a total of 1,094 days without hospital cover which won’t affect your LHC loading.

If your health insurer agrees to suspend your hospital policy, then this suspension period will not count towards your 1,094 permitted days without hospital cover. This means, your LHC loading status won’t be affected while your policy is suspended, including if your policy is suspended with ahm due to financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.

Note that a period of suspension does not count towards the 10 years of continuous cover needed for LHC removal.

If you need to suspend your policy, please contact us.

No, the LHC loading only affects the premiums you pay for hospital cover.

This means, it will only be applied to the hospital component of your premium and doesn’t affect the extras part of your premium.

No, holding extras cover, only, does not prevent you from incurring LHC loading if you choose to take out hospital cover later in life.