By paying your invoices on time, you avoid incurring unnecessary fees.
According to Art. 64a of the Swiss Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG), health insurers are required to collect outstanding premiums and co-payments under compulsory health insurance (basic insurance).
Swiss Federal Health Insurance Act, Art. 64a
The law requires that the reminder process for basic health insurance is kept separate from that for supplementary insurance. You will therefore be issued with a separate written reminder for supplementary insurance, which in turn incurs fees.
Subject to certain conditions, we can offer you the chance of paying in instalments so as to support you if you are having financial difficulties. Our Customer Service would be happy to look into this with you.
There are various reasons for this:
If you cannot pay the invoice, please contact our Customer Service as soon as possible or get in touch with social services at your place of residence.
Deferral of benefits under basic insurance
The cantons can keep a list of all insured persons who fail to pay their premium invoices despite debt enforcement efforts. The following cantons maintain a list of defaulting premium payers: Aargau, Lucerne, Thurgau and Ticino. If a canton issues a decree to this end, insurers defer the provision of benefits until all outstanding debts are paid (KVG Art. 64a para. 7). This means that the insurers are no longer allowed to provide any more benefits from the compulsory health insurance (OKP) during this period. This does not include emergency treatments. Once the outstanding claims have been paid, all benefits will be settled with retroactive effect.
Suspension of benefits under supplementary insurance
If we still do not receive any payments after issuing reminders and payment deadlines, we will suspend benefits under supplementary insurance and any claims for daily sickness benefits. This means that the insured person no longer has any insurance cover in case of an insured event. If the premiums are paid later, there is no retroactive entitlement to benefits accrued during the period of the suspension of benefits.
Deferral of benefits under basic insurance for insured persons resident abroad
If an insured person resident in an EU/EFTA country does not pay their contributions, the insurer must send a request for collection to the country concerned. If the latter has not initiated collection proceedings against the insured person despite a reminder within nine months of the request being sent, the insurer may suspend payment of the costs of the benefits (KVV Art. 105m para. 2). Once the outstanding claims have been paid, all benefits will be settled with retroactive effect.
No. Offsetting outstanding premiums against a benefits credit balance is prohibited by law.
Your premium reduction may not have been taken into account in your premium invoice. However, as you are obliged to pay premiums in advance, the full premium is due for payment. As soon as we receive notification of a decision in your favour from the canton, we will credit you the amount with retroactive effect.
A payment default requires the health insurer and insured person to remain in their contractual relationship. The law stipulates that insured persons can only switch to another basic insurer once all outstanding premiums, co-payments, default interest and debt collection costs have been paid in full.
A certificate of loss is a deed evidencing outstanding debts. The creditor receives this if he/she has not received the money he/she is owed upon the expiry of an attachment. Certificates of loss remain valid for 20 years. As your financial situation may improve during this period, we send you occasional reminders of your certificate of loss debts.
If you have any questions, you can reach us on 058 340 12 38.
We're here to help.