I am thinking about changing my private health insurance but before I go speak to a broker/advisor (and potentially get ripped off) I was wondering if anyone on TT has been through it and could warn me of any pit-falls.
I have been privately insured for about 4 years now and haven't ever claimed once. As a result I get a rebate of about €1,200 a year. I pay €421 a month in total (before deducting employer subsidy). I have no "selbst-Beteiligung".
I am looking to change to one with a "selbst-Beteiligung" of about €1,000 a year and if possible also a no-claims rebate.
Are there any things to look out for? Do I stand a chance of making the sums work (i.e. reduction of premiums to make up for a loss of re-bate in the first years.)?
Any help or tips appreciated
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Advice on changing private health insurance
Is it worth it? Things to watch, pitfalls, etc.
Why are you looking to change? To me, your deal looks pretty good cause if you don't claim, you're only paying 121 euros a month, and I'm sure if you do get sick, your policy is pretty comprehensive for 421 euros a month.
Owain: as it is you'll get obviously currently 3 monthly premium worth of no-claims-bonus with your existing health insurance. Most insurances start with 1-2 monthly premiums for the first year and then only increase the no-claims-bonus over a couple of consecutive no-claims-years. So you might end up with lower no-claims-bonus.
besides: every dime you lower your monthly premiums through the change and particularily a high deductible like the EUR 1.000.-/year you mention above will be shared with your employer, but on the other hand the deductible will have to be borne fully by you. In other words: you need to see a reduction of 2.000.- EUR worth of premium costs before it balances the higher deductible if you understand where I am heading...
Therefore I would be rather cautious before actually changing.
Otherwise, make sure - once you have found the right new insurance - that you only cancel your existing insurance AFTER you received the written confirmation from your old insurance. Otherwise you could end up in a bad situation.
And, unless your insurance has just recently increased premium costs (like the Hallesche, for instance) you can only cancel your "old" insurance with three month notice to the end of the year. So the switch can only become effective by Jan. 1st under normal circumstances...
Hope this helps you with your decision process...
Cheerio
besides: every dime you lower your monthly premiums through the change and particularily a high deductible like the EUR 1.000.-/year you mention above will be shared with your employer, but on the other hand the deductible will have to be borne fully by you. In other words: you need to see a reduction of 2.000.- EUR worth of premium costs before it balances the higher deductible if you understand where I am heading...
Therefore I would be rather cautious before actually changing.
Otherwise, make sure - once you have found the right new insurance - that you only cancel your existing insurance AFTER you received the written confirmation from your old insurance. Otherwise you could end up in a bad situation.
And, unless your insurance has just recently increased premium costs (like the Hallesche, for instance) you can only cancel your "old" insurance with three month notice to the end of the year. So the switch can only become effective by Jan. 1st under normal circumstances...
Hope this helps you with your decision process...
Cheerio
I've found a policy where you get 6 months premiums back after the first year and every year you don't claim. Selbstbeteiligung is €500. This means if you don't claim, you get insurance for free for the year. Now, the trick is to work out the point where claiming money back above the €500 selbstbeteiligung is better than paying myself and claiming the 6 months premiums back (which are worth €2280). It seems pretty simple that I' have to pay more than €2.780 in medical bills before it makes sense to claim. Anyone see a flaw in this logic?
No, this is correct. Basically a high no-claims bonus will work like an extra deductible because financially you will not hand in your medical bills before the sum of deductible and no-claims-bonus is exceeded by the bills. Since I know this tarif you speak of quite well and find it attractive too in some cases especially for employees, some things need to be mentioned/brought to attention as well:
1) if you have a year where you actually needed the insurance, the following year you'll get "only" 3 monthly premiums back, the year after it rises to 4 and only in the year 3 after the need/use of the insurance does it climb back to 6 monthly premiums (basically 5 month are guaranteed and 1 is depending on insurance performance, but this insurance company does quite well, so I have no reasons for doubts about the 6th month premium here).
2) the general premium is quite on the upper end of the costs scale. Therefore in my opinion this is an insurance which makes the most sense for employees and not so much for self-employed/freelancer. Simply because the higher premium costs are share with the employer for an employee while he gets back the full no-claims-bonus and thus can go basically cost-free for one year, whereas the self-employed has to pay the higher premium in full by himself and still gets "only" the 6 month premium back. While you get automatically a 2-bed-room + head-of-department (Chefarzt) coverage with it - which is a good thing to have for many - you still have to follow the house-doctor-principle and can not, for instance, chose to go directly to any specialist you wish. Furthermore the coverage for dental replacements is rather meagre in the first 4 years, if that is an issue for anyone. But all in all it is an insurance whose coverage is still above the median for such insurances in Germany...
Like I always say: with (German) health insurances, one size does not fit all. This is why it is required in many cases, if not all, that a professional checks out the whole market and finds a solid solution. Probably this insurance can be great for you, but you should know about all the little details in comparison before you can make an "educated" decision.
Cheerio
1) if you have a year where you actually needed the insurance, the following year you'll get "only" 3 monthly premiums back, the year after it rises to 4 and only in the year 3 after the need/use of the insurance does it climb back to 6 monthly premiums (basically 5 month are guaranteed and 1 is depending on insurance performance, but this insurance company does quite well, so I have no reasons for doubts about the 6th month premium here).
2) the general premium is quite on the upper end of the costs scale. Therefore in my opinion this is an insurance which makes the most sense for employees and not so much for self-employed/freelancer. Simply because the higher premium costs are share with the employer for an employee while he gets back the full no-claims-bonus and thus can go basically cost-free for one year, whereas the self-employed has to pay the higher premium in full by himself and still gets "only" the 6 month premium back. While you get automatically a 2-bed-room + head-of-department (Chefarzt) coverage with it - which is a good thing to have for many - you still have to follow the house-doctor-principle and can not, for instance, chose to go directly to any specialist you wish. Furthermore the coverage for dental replacements is rather meagre in the first 4 years, if that is an issue for anyone. But all in all it is an insurance whose coverage is still above the median for such insurances in Germany...
Like I always say: with (German) health insurances, one size does not fit all. This is why it is required in many cases, if not all, that a professional checks out the whole market and finds a solid solution. Probably this insurance can be great for you, but you should know about all the little details in comparison before you can make an "educated" decision.
Cheerio
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