Premium increase in supplementary insurance: your cancellation rights

Premium increase: basic and supplementary insurance follow different rules

The premium letters arrive in autumn. For basic health insurance, the procedure is laid down by law: the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) approves every premium in advance (Art. 16 of the Health Insurance Supervision Act, KVAG), your insurer notifies you at least 2 months beforehand, and you can switch with one month’s notice (Art. 7 para. 2 of the Federal Health Insurance Act, KVG). None of this applies to supplementary insurance. It is a private contract under the Insurance Contract Act (ICA), and your rights are set out mainly in your policy and the general terms and conditions.

This has an important consequence: you can switch basic health insurance without risk. With supplementary insurance, you weigh up the higher premium against the risk of not getting an equivalent new contract.

Why supplementary premiums rise and who checks them

In basic health insurance, the same premium applies to all adults with the same insurer in the same canton and region; it is only graded by three age groups (Art. 61 KVG). In supplementary insurance, insurers may grade the premium by age or by age on joining. Depending on the product, your premium therefore rises not only when costs rise but also when you move into a higher age band.

The insurer is still not entirely free. The tariffs and general terms and conditions of supplementary insurance to social health insurance are part of the business plan (Art. 4 para. 2 let. r of the Insurance Supervision Act, ISA), and the insurer must submit changes to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) for approval before implementing them (Art. 5 para. 1 ISA). On the basis of the tariff calculations, FINMA checks whether the premiums safeguard the insurer’s solvency and protect insured persons against abuse (Art. 38 para. 1 ISA). An approved increase is therefore not arbitrary, but it is no guarantee either that the product will remain good value for you.

A premium increase in basic health insurance says nothing about supplementary insurance, and vice versa. The two contracts run separately, even if they appear on the same premium letter.

Step by step: how to respond to the premium letter

1. Separate the two parts. Read separately in the premium letter what basic health insurance and what each supplementary insurance will cost in future. The 30 November deadline applies to basic health insurance; for supplementary insurance, your contract applies.
2. Look for a cancellation right in the terms and conditions. Keywords are “premium adjustment”, “tariff change” or “cancellation”. If there is a right to cancel in response to the new premium, note the notice period and date.
3. Check the ordinary date. Without a special right, cancellation remains possible at the end of the third or any later contract year, with 3 months’ notice (Art. 35a para. 1 ICA). For contracts that follow the calendar year, this means receipt by 30.09. for the end of the year.
4. Ask your own insurer about alternatives. A lower level, a higher retention fee, a different product. Ask in writing whether switching back later would trigger health questions.
5. Apply to a new insurer before you cancel. Apply for the new product, answer the health questions in full (Art. 4 ICA) and wait for written acceptance.
6. Cancel or keep. If you have the acceptance and the switch pays off, cancel in a way you can prove. Otherwise you keep the contract; your insurer may not cancel it in the ordinary way.

Your cancellation rights in detail

Special cancellation under the terms and conditions. The ICA contains no right to cancel because of a premium increase. Some contracts provide one themselves; in that case, the notice period and form set out in the terms and conditions apply. Before you conclude the contract, your insurer must already inform you about the premiums due and the term and termination of the contract (Art. 3 para. 1 let. c and d ICA). You will find this information in your contract documents.

Ordinary cancellation. Every contract can be cancelled at the end of the third or any subsequent year, with 3 months’ notice, in writing or in text form (Art. 35a para. 1 ICA). Contracts may allow earlier cancellation (Art. 35a para. 2 ICA). The details are explained under cancelling supplementary insurance.

Cancellation after a claim. If you have just had a claim, you can cancel at the latest when the benefit is paid out; cover ends 14 days after your notification (Art. 42 ICA). In supplementary health insurance, only you have this right (Art. 35a para. 4 ICA).

Cancellation for good cause. Either party may cancel at any time for good cause if continuing the contract can no longer reasonably be expected in good faith (Art. 35b ICA). The law does not say whether a premium increase alone is sufficient. Do not rely on it without having clarified the question with your insurer or an advice centre.

Your insurer itself may not cancel in the ordinary way. In supplementary health insurance, only the policyholder has the ordinary right to cancel and the right to cancel after a claim (Art. 35a para. 4 ICA). So an insurer cannot push you out of the contract because of your age or high costs; it can only adjust the premium within the approved framework.

Alternatives to cancelling

Choose lower cover. Some products come in levels, such as private, semi-private or general ward anywhere in Switzerland, or with a retention fee. A lower level reduces the premium without you giving up the contract. The general terms and conditions and the information from your insurer are what count.

Adopt the new terms and conditions. If your insurer changes the general terms and conditions for the same type of insurance, you can ask for your contract to continue under the new conditions; if the new cover costs more, you pay the higher premium (Art. 35 ICA).

Switching out of a closed portfolio. If your insurer no longer accepts new insured persons in your product, this is called a closed portfolio. You then have the right to switch to a contract that is as equivalent as possible from an open portfolio of the same insurer or its group, provided one exists. What counts is your age and state of health when you concluded your existing contract (Art. 156 para. 1 and 3 of the Insurance Supervision Ordinance, AVO). Your insurer must inform you of this right without delay (Art. 156 para. 2 AVO).

Ask about the surrender value. If your product builds up ageing reserves and your insurer provides for a refund on early termination, it must inform you of the surrender value when it adjusts premiums (Art. 155 para. 5 AVO). This helps you work out what cancelling would cost.

Switch basic health insurance, keep supplementary insurance. A comparison also pays off in basic health insurance, as the example below shows. Your current insurer may not force you to cancel your supplementary insurance, nor cancel it solely because you switch (Art. 7 para. 7 and 8 KVG). You can compare premiums in the premium calculator.

Figures: supplementary premium and basic health insurance compared

For supplementary insurance, there are no public premium statistics as there are for basic health insurance; the premiums are in the insurers’ quotes and policies. For basic health insurance, by contrast, the FOPH publishes all approved premiums. 2026 premiums, municipality of Zurich (region 1), adults, with accident cover; source FOPH:

The lowest premiums belong to GP and HMO models with their own rules; the page Insurance models explains which ones. The FOPH publishes the following year’s premiums at the end of September; until they are released, we calculate with the 2026 premiums.

Example: premium letter at 64

Example with fictitious people. Ruth, 64, lives in Zurich. She has basic health insurance with a CHF 300 deductible and pays the median of CHF 580.00 per month in 2026. She has also had semi-private supplementary hospital insurance since 2012. In this contract example, its premium is CHF 150.00 per month; the insurer announces an increase of 10 % to CHF 165.00. We assume that her general terms and conditions provide no special right to cancel.

The supplementary insurance figures are assumptions. The example is a calculation, not a recommendation: whether the semi-private ward is worth it for you depends on your priorities and your contract. The article Which supplementary insurance pays for what? explains what benefits other insurers offer; you will find the individual insurers under Health insurers.

Special cases

Retirement and old age. As you get older, a new contract becomes harder to get, because health questions and age on joining count. An existing contract that your insurer may not cancel in the ordinary way then has a value of its own. More on this in the article Supplementary insurance from age 60.

Family contracts. If several people are on one policy, check the new premium for each person individually. The general terms and conditions govern whether you can cancel for individual people.

Cancellation already sent. If you have cancelled and the new insurer refuses you, you cannot withdraw the cancellation unilaterally. Ask your current insurer whether it will continue the contract; you have no right to this.

Common mistakes

• Cancelling immediately because of the increase, without a new acceptance. If you are refused, you are left without supplementary insurance.
• Mixing up the deadlines. 30 November applies to basic health insurance. For supplementary insurance, the terms and conditions and Art. 35a ICA count; for contracts that follow the calendar year, that means 30 September.
• Assuming a statutory special right to cancel. There is none. Only your general terms and conditions can provide one.
• Not checking alternatives. A lower level, a retention fee or a successor product with the same insurer are possible without giving up the existing contract.
• Forgetting basic health insurance. There you switch without health questions and without any effect on your supplementary insurance.

You can create the cancellation letter with the cancellation letter generator; the article Cancelling supplementary insurance shows the whole process. You will find all topics relating to supplementary hospital and outpatient insurance in the topic section Supplementary insurance.