Terms of Business

DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC is a designated activity company and registered in Ireland, number 383762 with a postal address and registered office of the Industrial Estate, Claremorris, Co. Mayo.

We bring you a comprehensive offering of dental insurance products and services. DeCare has been underwriting dental insurance products in Ireland since 2004 and insures more corporate and individual members than any other brand.

DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC is a subsidiary of DeCare Dental LLC, an experienced global dental benefits company that serves 6.5 million members worldwide.

DECARE DENTAL LLC, DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC’s immediate parent undertaking, is a limited liability company incorporated in the USA.

ELEVANCE INC, DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC’s ultimate parent undertaking, is a publicly quoted company trading on the New York Stock Exchange, incorporated in the USA.

Codes of Conduct

DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC trading as DeCare, DeCare Dental and DeCare Vision is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and subject to the following Codes of Conduct: Consumer Protection Code, Corporate Governance Code, the Minimum Competency Code and the Fitness and Probity Standards. These codes offer protection to consumers and can be found on the Central Bank website: www.centralbank.ie.

• By phone: 094 937 8608 (claims or benefit queries)
• By email: query@decaredental.ie (claims or benefit queries)
• Via our website: www.decare.ie , our app through the app store <app> or
• Written correspondence: DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC, IDA Business Park, Claremorris,
  Co. Mayo, F12KD85

We will make every effort to provide you with an excellent level of customer service over the period of the insurance contract. We will endeavour to deal with any claim fairly and efficiently, within the terms of the contract.

The annual renewal of your policy will take place annually during the month prior to the policy’s renewal date. The Rules – Terms and Conditions and Schedule of Benefits which you receive at your renewal date will then apply to your policy. For policies paid directly by your employer or policies where premium is deducted from your salary, which is facilitated through your employer, your first period of insurance is determined based upon the date your employer subscribed for coverage for you and the renewal date for that coverage will be the renewal date of your employer’s policy. All policies are provided on an annual basis, regardless of the method or frequency of payment chosen. Policies may not be cancelled or altered mid-term. A policyholder can change Insurance Product, add or remove dependants or cancel his/her policy at annual renewal stage.

As a consumer, you have the right to cancel your policy without penalty and without giving any reason within 14 days of the date of you taking out cover or 14 days from the date you receive your policy documents, whichever is the later. This is known as the cooling off period. If you decide that you do not want to accept the policy (or any future renewal of the policy by us) tell us of your decision in writing using the contact details provided on this document within the 14 day cooling off period. We will refund the premium you have paid and will recover from you any dental benefit that we have paid.

Your cover and that of your eligible dependants will cease on the earliest of the following dates:

1. On the date listed on any cancellation notice confirming your policy is terminated or cancelled.
2. On the date you fail to pay the required policy payments.
3. You cease to be eligible.

The policy may be cancelled by the policy holder within the 14-day cooling off period, on the anniversary date of the policy or in accordance with clause 23 & 24 of the general conditions in the Terms & Conditions Booklet, by us- on the change of any of the terms and conditions set out in the Terms & Conditions Booklet and your Schedule of Benefits.

If you terminate cover prior to your anniversary date of the policy other than in accordance with the clause in the “Changes to terms of membership section”, any premium amount paid will not be refunded and a breach fee of €40 will be charged to cover our administration costs. The policy may be cancelled by us at any time if the policyholder fails to make the required premium payments or to comply with the terms of the policy.If a policyholder terminates cover at renewal stage, he/she will be allowed to enroll 12 months after the termination date subject to the “waiting periods” (if applicable in your Schedule of Benefits).We reserve the right to terminate the policy, in whole or in part, at any time during the period of insurance if you or your insured dependents breach the terms and conditions of your policy. Termination of the policy will result in loss of benefits for all insured persons. If the policy is terminated, the rights of the insured persons are limited to expenses in respect of covered services incurred before termination.

DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC would like to draw your attention to the fact that should you fail to make any payments within the required or agreed time, fail to provide any documents or information which we have requested, act dishonestly or not within the terms of contract or agreement, DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC may having provided either directly or through our intermediary prior written or verbal warnings/ reminder notices, cancel the policy, not process any claims, require you to repay any previous claims which have been paid out, repay any arrears which are due on your account or pay costs incurred by us as a direct result of your action.

If a change to a customer account result in a premium refund/shortfall of less than or equal to €10 no charge/refund will be made due to the administration costs involved.

We strive to always provide first class service, however, in the event of any complaint regarding the standard of services received under your policy, the following procedure is available to resolve the situation:
In the first instance, the policyholder should write to the Customer Services Manager at:

DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC
IDA Business Park
Claremorris
Co. Mayo
Ireland.

If dissatisfied, you are entitled to use the services of the:

The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman
3rd Floor
Lincoln House
Lincoln Place
Dublin 2
Ireland.
Phone: 01 567 7000.
Email: info@fspo.ie
Website: www.fspo.ie

Alternatively, the policyholder may contact:

Information Services
Irish Insurance Federation
39 Molesworth Street
Dublin 2
Ireland.
Tel: 01 676 1820.
Email: feedback@insuranceireland.eu
Website: www.insuranceireland.eu/consumer-information

This service can advise on how to proceed further and may help in resolving the problem. Taking any of these options will not prejudice the policyholder’s rights to legal proceedings.

We hold and use personal data and sensitive personal data such as medical information for the purposes of providing and administering dental insurance products. We are registered as a Data Controller with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. In order to administer the dental insurance products which, we provide, it is necessary for us to send your data outside of the EU to our parent company based in the USA, but such data will continue to be safe guarded in accordance with the standards and principles set out in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018. We may share your personal data and sensitive personal data with your Dentist insofar as it is relevant to the processing of your claim. We may also share your personal data with our bank for the purpose of processing the payment of your claim. We may also share your data with other insurers to verify your cover. We may share your data with trusted third parties for the purpose of distributing policy documentation and other communications, such as letters, direct mail, emails etc. We may share your information with our parent company and other group companies for the purpose of processing the payment of your claim and efficient administration such as audit, systems development etc. We may share your personal data and sensitive personal data with our legal advisers and the appropriate authorities where necessary e.g. the Dental Council, An Garda Síochána and in relation to personal data with the Revenue Commissioners. We may share your personal information and anonymised information for the purposes of health services research for projects approved by the Data Protection Commissioner. If you have a query in relation to the data held about you or you wish to request a copy of the data held by DeCare about you, please write to The Data Protection Officer, DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC, IDA Business Park, Claremorris, Co. Mayo.

DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC will always seek to avoid conflict of interest. Where conflicts of interest arise and cannot be reasonably avoided, DeCare Dental Ireland Insurance DAC will:

• disclose the general nature and /or source of the conflicts of interest to the consumer and only undertake business with or on behalf of a consumer where there is directly or indirectly a conflicting interest, where that consumer has acknowledged on paper or on another durable medium, that he or she is aware of the conflict of interest and still wants to proceed; and
• ensure that the conflict does not result in damages to the interests of the consumer.

Section 8 (7) (a) of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 (*revised) acknowledges:

The consumer shall be under a duty to answer all questions posed by the insurer honestly and with reasonable care (the test of reasonable care being by reference to that of the average consumer).

Section 14 (4) of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act (which has the same meaning as in section 8, listed above), acknowledges the duty of the consumer at renewal stage:

The consumer shall be under a duty to respond honestly and with reasonable care, to any requests by the insurer at the renewal of the contract of insurance and, if the consumer does not provide any new information in response to the insurer’s request and where the consumer continues to pay the renewal premium, it shall be presumed that the information previously provided has not altered.

DeCare Dental records all telephone calls, inbound and outbound, for regulatory, quality, training and verification purposes. All data captured by these facilities are managed in accordance with the Data Protection Acts.

Your contract is governed by the laws of the Republic of Ireland and the Irish Courts have jurisdiction to hear any disputes that may arise.

While every care has been taken to ensure that all information contained on this website is accurate and correct, DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies contained therein. You hereby acknowledge that any reliance upon any materials found on this website shall be at your sole risk. Full details of our products and any cover under any policies you may have may be found on your policy documents. If you need our help, contact us directly. Information provided may be changed or updated without notice.

Please note that these Terms of Business are a summary document that has been complied for your protection. It needs to be read in conjunction with the “Rules- Terms and Conditions” and the Schedule of Benefits which are specific to your policy.

We at DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland DAC value your business and thank you for taking the time to read this document. The Terms of Business has been compiled for your protection.

Effective Date of Document: 12 March 2024