The short version
Physiotherapy is a standard day-to-day benefit on most Irish private health insurance plans. That usually means a fixed amount or a percentage per visit, up to a yearly cap, provided the physiotherapist meets the wording on your plan, which is usually a Chartered Physiotherapist. Check the exact wording. You do not need a GP referral to claim on insurance. What you get back depends entirely on your plan, so the table of benefits is the only source that counts.
Whether a video session counts as a visit is not stated on every table of benefits. We are asking the insurers for that in writing and will publish their answers here. Until then, check with your insurer before you rely on it.
How to check your own plan in five minutes
Log in to your insurer's member area or find your plan's table of benefits. Look under day-to-day, outpatient or everyday benefits for physiotherapy. Note three things: the amount per visit, the number of visits per year, and any excess you have to pass first. Then ask, by phone or their online chat, whether a video consultation with a CORU registered physiotherapist is covered under that benefit.
- Amount per visit, or the percentage covered.
- Visits per year, and whether physio shares the cap with other therapies.
- Any excess or waiting period on the plan.
- Whether video consultations count. Ask this one explicitly.
What you need to make a claim
A receipt showing the physiotherapist's name and registration number, the date, the duration and the amount paid. Each paid session booked here has a receipt in that form, which you can print from your booking's page. Most insurers let you upload it through their app and pay the benefit within a few weeks.
Tax relief, and the catch
Revenue allows tax relief at the standard rate on health expenses, and physiotherapy can qualify. The catch is that physiotherapy only counts as a health expense when it was prescribed, referred or advised by a practitioner such as a registered doctor. If you refer yourself, it does not qualify. If your GP or doctor referred you, keep the referral with your receipts and you may be able to claim through Revenue's myAccount.
This is our reading of the published guidance, not tax advice. Revenue's own pages on health expenses are the authority, and a tax adviser can tell you how it applies to you.
If your insurer already offers free online physio
Some plans include free virtual physiotherapy through a partner service. If yours does, it is worth using. The differences with booking here are that you choose a named physio and can keep seeing the same person, and you book a specific time rather than joining a queue. Whether that is worth paying for is your call, and we would rather you knew the free option existed.