Health Insurance

I have recently left one job and am currently working in a temp job until my new permanent job starts at the beginning of November. So for really the first time, I am just sorting out all the things that need to be sorted out when one changes jobs.

My last job was my first "proper job" in Germany and without really speaking the language so well and not realising all the "rules", my employers sorted out my things.

Well, it turns out that they have not been paying my krankenkasse. The money has been deducted from my wages. I have tried contacting my old employers to see if they can verify where they were paying this money to but they say that I need to contact the krankenkasse myself. They say they have no account for me.

What can I do? It sounds so stupid now that I know more about life in Germany, but when I first got here, I did not know you needed a health number etc etc

are you with a private or state health insurance company? which one? if your previous company didn't have the details of your chosen company, have they been paying the money to AOK? as a kind of default? all seems very strange...

I am with Techniker Krankasse. When I contacted my previous employers, to see exactly where my €150 a month they had been deducting for health insurance had been going, they sent me a letter that they had recieved from TK in July, and attached a note to it, which said "this is your health care company, you need to sort it out with them". The letter from TK was addressed to them and was asking my employers to contact them regarding my insurance. TK are saying that they have no account and no account number for me.

Is the responsibility on my employer to ensure this is paid, and what can I do if it hasn´t been paid?