Hi,

I grew up in Switzerland but have been living in London for the last 6 years. Moved back beginning of March and of course have started the Medical Insurance process.

Both Sanitas and Groupe Mutuel have sent me lovely letters refusing me Complementary Insurance. Both had the lovely "the law says that we do not need to tell you why we are refusing you" which I find beyond belief (and I work in a legal department). Sanitas suggested I re-apply in September. Anyone have any ideas why?

On top of that the quote I was given was to start on 1 May - I finally got a letter from GM on 28 May certifying that I have LAMAL from 1 May........so basically I need to pay the primes for a month before I had confirmation of coverage.

All in all I am not loving insurance companies at the moment!!

Hi and welcome to the forum. To answer your question you must have some pre existing condition for them not to cover you for complementary insurance, either that or you owe another comapny money.....
And having been here before you should be well aware that you are liable for health insurance payments backdated to the first day of the month you arrived in Switzerland. I have had to deal with some expats who have arrived on the 26th of the month, only to find out that they have to pay insurance for the whole of the month even though they were not in the country

Hi there,

Under what grounds can one apply for complimentary cover?

I think she means "complementary" rather than "complimentary" (i.e. additional cover to basic insurance, not free insurance).


Sorry, if I misunderstood your post.

I take it you mean supplementary cover.
Anyone can apply.
A company can refuse you for the slightest reason if they think that as a client, you will cost them more that what your premiums are.
Hay fever, back pains, previous injuries are all reasons I have seen for people being refused supplementary cover.
Thats why it is always a good idea to get insurance when you dont need it.
As I have said many times before on this forum, if you need insurance, and dont have it, then it is very unlikey for you to get it as these companies are not going to take on any obvious risk.

Maybe once they see how much you are claiming they will re-consider giving you complementary insurance. Probably as you're coming from abroad they are a bit sceptical. I was refused initially but managed to get one complementary insurance after a while here.

I suggest that you contact Jenny who has helped many forum members with their insurance.

Ahhhhhhhhh!!! That'll be me totally misreading with clearly not enough coffee this morning! I know we don't offer any free cover, thought some kind of NHS had been formed whilst I was sleeping! LOL! Cheers Sandgrounder!!

Sharonm if you PM me with your details and circumstances we may be able to get to the bottom of this and aid you.