VHI Insurance loses chief executive

Ireland's state-owned insurance company loses its CEO

Travel Insurance News - 28/04/2008

<< Travel insurance more important now than ever before | Travel News | The dangers of British airports >>

Chief executive of VHI Healthcare, Vincent Sheridan, is retiring this week. Before stepping down, he still had a lot to say about the future of the company and the deals in store for customers in the future.

The state-owned, Irish health insurer was recently allowed to expand beyond the provision of health insurance by new legislation. In the future, VHI will be able to diversify the products it offers customers.

Sheridan expects that within one year, VHI will be competing against Ireland’s commercial insurance providers in the areas of life insurance and life assurance. Potentially, VHI could offer customers in the future a full insurance package.

‘‘I can see us getting into other financial areas that are linked to our core product offering in some way,” Sheridan said. ‘‘I don’t want to be saying too much about it, because we have not announced them yet, but we are looking at areas that we can add value to and things that we believe our members and the wider public will want.”

Under Sheridan’s expertise, VHI has added a number of products to its range and turned the company around from operating under a loss, to pulling in a record €70.3 million surplus.

According to Sheridan, one of the most popular products this year was the VHI Multi-trip travel insurance policy which costs €49 a year. The policy complements existing health insurance and has been ‘‘hugely successful’’ this year.

Sheridan will be officially leaving the insurance provider on Thursday. ‘‘I have enjoyed it enormously, and it has been very successful in a number of ways. I am leaving the VHI as a stronger organisation. We have enjoyed tremendous growth during that period. We have had tremendous innovation,” he said.

<< Travel insurance more important now than ever before | Travel News | The dangers of British airports >>