Guide

Cancelling health insurance: deadlines and steps

New premiums arrive every autumn. If you want to switch, you only have a few weeks. Here you’ll find which deadlines apply and how to go about it without anything going wrong.

Deadlines for basic insurance

Important: what counts is when your cancellation arrives at your health insurer, not when you send it. If 30 November falls on a weekend, it must arrive by the last working day before.

Your health insurer must tell you the new premiums by the end of October at the latest. From then on, you can compare and decide.

How to go about it

1. Compare premiums, for example with the Swiss government’s official premium calculator at priminfo.admin.ch.
2. Sign up with the new health insurer. It must accept you for basic insurance, without health questions and without reservations.
3. Cancel in writing with your current health insurer. The safest way is by registered letter or A Mail Plus, and early enough: the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recommends posting the letter by mid-November.
4. Wait for confirmation. Your old insurance only ends once the new health insurer has confirmed that you are insured without a break.
5. Pay outstanding bills. If you have not paid premiums or cost-sharing you were sent reminders for by the end of the year, you cannot switch.

Deductible and insurance model

You can choose a higher deductible until 31 December. A lower deductible, or leaving a family doctor, HMO or Telmed model, must be reported in writing by 30 November. Switching into such a model, on the other hand, is possible at any time.

And supplementary insurance?

Supplementary insurance has its own cancellation deadlines. You will find them in your insurer’s terms and conditions. Unlike with basic insurance, a new insurer may turn you down or ask health questions. So only cancel supplementary insurance once the new insurer has accepted you in writing.

You may switch your basic insurance and keep your supplementary insurance with your current insurer. Your health insurer may not cancel your supplementary insurance because of this.

Never miss a deadline again

With ANU Subs, you enter your health insurance once and set the cancellation to the end of the year. The app reminds you to cancel before 30 November. To be on the safe side, still send it by mid-November. No account and no bank access: your data stays on your phone.

Last updated: October 2026. This page is not legal advice. The information from the Federal Office of Public Health and your health insurer is authoritative.