PKV when leaving Germany: four answers with sources

That is set out in the terms of your plan: under the model terms, cover applies in Europe, outside Europe only by agreement, and a move is governed by its own rules.

In the first month of a temporary stay outside Europe, cover applies even without a special agreement. This is meant for travel, not for a move. Individual plans may offer more or less.

Ask your insurer in writing: For which countries and which duration does my plan apply? What applies if I move my home base? Is there a continuation or an Anwartschaft, and on what terms?

If you move your habitual residence to another EU member state or EEA contracting state, the insurance relationship continues by law, but the insurer pays at most what it would have to pay in Germany (§ 207 (3) VVG, German Insurance Contract Act). If you move your habitual residence to any other state, the contract ends to that extent under the model terms, unless it is continued under a separate agreement; the insurer may charge a reasonable premium surcharge for this. If the move is only temporary, you can ask to have the contract converted into an Anwartschaft (a German option to keep certain rights in private insurance while abroad) (§ 15 (3) MB/KK, model terms for private health insurance). The Verbraucherzentrale (consumer advice centre) names Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as exceptions to the rule of thumb that outside the EU, private cover also usually lapses.

Sources: [3], [2], [4]

If you cancel your contract, the Alterungsrückstellungen (ageing provisions) built up under it are lost according to the PKV association (PKV-Verband); with an Anwartschaft they remain in place.

According to the PKV-Verband, the provisions help keep your premium stable in old age. If you switch to another insurer in Germany, your previous insurer transfers the part of the provision that corresponds to the basic tariff (Basistarif), provided the cancelled contract was taken out after 1 January 2009 (§ 204 (1) VVG).

When you leave Germany, it therefore depends on which route you choose: end it, put it on hold or continue it. Ask your insurer in writing: How high is my Alterungsrückstellung, and what happens to it on cancellation, with a reduced and with a full Anwartschaft?

Sources: [5], [6]

That depends on whether you want to return to private health insurance later and what your current health status and your entry age are worth to you. There is no blanket answer.

The PKV-Verband recommends an Anwartschaft insurance for policyholders who plan or wish to return to the PKV when they cancel. Illnesses can lead to a risk surcharge or a refusal on a new application. According to the PKV-Verband, only an Anwartschaft insurance protects against this. During the Anwartschaft there is no entitlement to benefits from private health insurance.

The decisive question is therefore one you ask yourself: Do I want to go back to private health insurance, and how likely is that? Ask your insurer which form it offers, what it costs on an ongoing basis, how long it may run and by when you have to notify your return.

With comprehensive health insurance operated like life insurance, you have the right to continue a cancelled contract as an Anwartschaft (§ 204 (5) VVG). Whether this right also applies when a contract is not cancelled but ends automatically has not been clarified, according to our research.

Sources: [6], [2]

Both spare you a new health assessment when you return to private health insurance. The full one also keeps building Alterungsrückstellungen and costs more as a result.

An Anwartschaft insurance puts an existing, cancelled or applied-for insurance relationship on hold so that it can be continued later. For its duration there is no entitlement to benefits. According to the PKV-Verband, with the full Anwartschaft the original entry age remains the basis for later premiums. The full one costs more on an ongoing basis, but the later premiums are lower than with the reduced one.

What exactly your insurer offers, how it credits provisions you have built up and how long it lets an Anwartschaft run is set out in its terms. Ask about both forms and have the differences given to you in writing.

Sources: [7], [5]