Healthcare insurance giant Aviva has defended itself after it was accused of misleading people into false claims that they were not planning for a price hike.

It was reported that many people switched to Aviva, in particular, from VHI after it announced a sudden rise in the prices of its services.

But Aviva, which claimed no such hikes, attracted no less than 30,000 people in past three weeks alone, employing more staff to cope up with the demand.

Out-of-nowhere, they suddenly confirmed on yesterday that they are introducing spike at all their services by 14% across the board on March 1.

Jim Dowdall, the chief executive of Aviva, refuted the allegations stating that the company was left with no choice as the government has imposed high taxes on insurers.

He also blamed medical inflation, which is currently at 9%.

Meanwhile, Irish Patient's Association (IPA) voiced their concerns over the uncontrollable price hike and expressed its doubts that the rise is intended merely to cover additional demands for private health services and medical inflation.

It is strongly speculated that the hike is introduced as a part of a marketing strategy and to maximize the company's profits subsiding the common interest of people.