Contributions are rising: consumer advice center warns privately insured people

PKV contributions are rising

Consumer advice center warns of supposed savings offers

In view of rising contributions, many privately insured people are looking for relief. However, consumer advocates advise caution.

Many people with private health insurance have received unpleasant news from their insurance company in recent weeks: premiums will rise significantly next year. It’s understandable that many are now looking for ways to reduce their monthly costs. This is exactly where so-called tariff optimizers sense their opportunity – with full-bodied promises of quick, easy savings. But the Hamburg consumer advice center warns: These offers can hide expensive pitfalls.

What tariff optimizers offer sounds tempting at first: they compare tariffs within private health insurance (PKV) and show supposedly equivalent alternatives with lower contributions. The catch: The providers are usually paid via performance-related commissions. The higher the savings, the higher your fee.

“Switching to a tariff that is as cheap as possible may seem attractive in the short term, but there is a risk that insured people will be enticed into making a switch that will not suit them in the long term and will actually end up costing them more money,” says Jochen Sunken from the Hamburg consumer center.

In other words: If you allow yourself to be guided too much by the price, you may end up with a tariff that provides less coverage in an emergency.

Many cheap tariffs do not come without restrictions. Insured people often overlook these details:

If you only look at the monthly premium, you are often saving at the wrong end.

“In our many years of experience, in many cases it is possible to achieve premium savings without any loss of benefits through a tariff change, but without the disadvantages mentioned,” emphasizes Sunken.

A tariff change within the existing private health insurance can make sense, but only if it suits your personal needs – and according to the consumer advice center, this is exactly what many tariff optimizers do not take sufficiently into account.