Anyone have any experience working with an Independant Health Insurance Advisor and if so was it a good experience or is there something I should be aware of?

I received a call today from a company claiming to be an Independant Health Insurance Advisor.

They have made an appointment with me for next week to come and assess my situation and potentially find me a better Health Insurance deal/provider.

Run like hell, just a front for financial advisor's.

Financial advisors?

AKA insurance salesman who will sell you a tax saving plan that gives them a HUGE commission & you loose a lot of money.

Ask yourself why someone who was independent (whatever that means) would want to talk to you about medical insurance. I must have had 50 calls in the last year.........

I got a call from a pushy young lady a while ago who insisted on sending someone to my home to discuss what I can do about "the rising costs of insurance", but without giving me any details when I asked for more clarification over the phone. I got worried that I wasn't aware of some new Swiss law regarding rising insurance rates, but the whole conversation didn't make any sense.

It was really frustrating and I panicked because I didn't want a stranger coming into my home, yet I didn't want to pass up on the opportunity to lower my insurance rates in case there was really something I wasn't aware of.

I tried to make excuses about working long hours and not being available (which was partly true), so would they please send me more details, or was there a web site I could look at? But she kept insisting on rescheduling to a date and time when I would for sure be in.

Well, lo and behold, the day came and I shrank in my apartment, waiting for the dreaded "adviser" to show up... and no one came. Even on the day of the original appointment, no one came. Phew. Was the whole thing a telemarketing scam?

It may have been. Serious consultants usually only ask for a consultancy fee. If the advice is for free they are definitely receiving commisions - meaning that they only earn money if they sell you an overpriced product. If you would like help with the insurance stuff I would contact an independant consultant that is not connected to any insurance company.

If you want to compare insurance premiums:
http://www.priminfo.ch/praemien/index.php?sprache=d

It is operated by the Federal Health Authority (and no they do not get any commissions!)

Or you can go to
www.comparis.ch
(who will get a commission if you end up signing up for a new insurance via their website).