This is basically what I was asking about. So... to reiterate the original question... who do I call? My insurance company who made the mistake in the first place? CIGES? The hospital?

You would probably have to pay the bill anyway. Every insurance policy has a deductable which has to be paid 1st before the insurance covers anything. It all depends on how much your deductable is....

Yes, I would have to pay the bill AND another month's insurance, rather than just the bill.

(NB: Good timing by my body requiring the hospital 3 days before the start of the next month - thanks, you rubbish lump of meat!).

Don't get confused. Usually you should have your insurance back dated to the date you "arrived" according to your permit. But since they made a "mistake" best to leave well enough alone & pay the F56 bill. Do was Heather says. Ask for the payment slip & you will take care of payment.

Nothing "serious" is going to happen by having your coverage from 1 Nov instead of 1 Oct.

Ask from whom? The hospital or CIGES? I would really love to scream right now. (I'm quite desperate to save this money as I've had about a squillion bills come through in the last week). I'll just send an email to CIGES asking them to provide me with a slip, or asking them to let me know if I need to request one from the hospital. See what happens...

Least said soonest mended is best for this sort of thing.

If you just reply to the letter you received (from your first post it seemed to come from the hospital) saying you want to pay them immediately yourself, with no further explanation of why, and just asking for the payment slip, they'll most likely send it to you straight away with no questions. Then you pay it and forget it.

They're really only interested in getting paid, whether you get reimbursed or not from insurance doesn't bother them. There must have been some confusion for them not to have billed you directly in the first case.

Usually, once you've got Swiss insurance the first visit you make to doctor or pharmacy they register your insurance details so they can send future bills direct to your insurer but they normally send the first bill to you anyway. Then, when they do send the bills direct to the insurer the insurer bills you for the "franchise", the 10% you have to pay yourself on the first few hundred CHF of claims and anything not covered by your insurance. But that's a different story.

Just try and keep it simple with the hospital or whoever is looking to get paid and show them that sending you the payment request directly will be simplest for them. Don't risk opening any doubts or new questions. If you really want to, tell them you were insured via a foreign company for your first few days in the country and will have to claim from them - but probably better not to volunteer that sort of story unless asked (which they probably won' do for such a sum if you say you want to pay anyway.

I've had to argue quite strenuously with my Swiss insurer as they seem to be about 120% more stupid than most international organisations and have messed up the most basic issues at least three times before correcting them. That sounds bad but it never took more than one or two irate letters and six weeks to sort things out.

Cheers

Chris

My first appointment with the doctor was one I had to pay up front, but this was a trip to A&E. I will try emailing the CIGES lady tomorrow and ask her to send me a slip without explaining why and keep my fingers crossed. I hope you're right!

Thank you to everyone who's replied in this thread, I appreciate the advice.

Until you started working you were insured by the British National Health Service via the EU sickness insurance agreement.

My daughter arrived back here in June after 2 years at school in England. Her stupid mother had not asked for permission to leave Switzerland, so her 'C' permit was cancelled and I had to apply for a 'B' permit for her.

The Berne Cantonal Polizei asked for her Swiss Health Insurance. I replied she has British National health cover for the first 6 months. They replied prove it. I sent them a photocopy of her NHS card. They said OK, but when she starts working on 1. August 2008 she has to have Swiss Insurance. Me: agreed.

If your French is good enough, I would suggest calling CIGES tomorrow and without admitting guilt, tell them you were covered by the NHS in October, which is true, and ask them to send you the bill, which you will pay yourself and claim back from England. Good luck, I definitely wouldn't go near your Swiss insurance company.

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Actually, I started working in October too. I just wish the insurance company hadn't stuffed up in the first place... now is really not the time to lose yet another couple of hundred francs.

Two friends of mine survived on their NHS status for 3 months without getting insurance, even though at least one of them was working during this time. Dunno how they wangled that one.

The people who sent you the letter.

In fact it is absolutely normal for this to happen in the case of new arrivals. Legally you have 3 motnhsd to find an insurer. If you don't, then one is selected for you. In both cases both the premiums and the cover are backdated to your registration date.

Of course it wouldn't. Basic medical insurance cannot be refused by an insurance company. Where do you get this stuff from?

Non Swiss insurance schemes are not valid once you become resident here. Insurance here cannot be arranged before you are resident.

... and in the case of the OP this was the date of the start of the B permit.