Switching from public to private health insurance in Germany

When can you switch from statutory to private health insurance?

• Salaried employees: Your salary exceeds the compulsory insurance limit (2024: 69,300 euros gross per year).
• Self-employed: You are already self-employed or are switching to self-employment.
• Civil servants: You are already a civil servant or a civil servant candidate
• Students: You are just starting your studies or have to change from the statutory family insurance because you are over 25 years old

How to switch from public to private health insurance as an employee:

If you are employed and your regular gross income is above the compulsory insurance limit, you can choose between public and private health insurance because you also qualify for private health insurance in Germany. This limit is constantly changing. It is 69,300 euros gross per year. This means that you must earn at least 5,775.00 euros per month in order to be able to terminate public health insurance and insure yourself in the private health insurance in Germany.

If you receive vacation and Christmas bonuses, these amounts also count towards your regular total income.

For example, if you get a salary increase in the summer and then exceed the fixed limit for the first time, you can take out private health insurance in Germany from January 1 of the next year if your salary is expected to be above the annual income limit in that year and the next. Read below to find out when and how you can switch.

Find out more about how much you pay as a salaried employee!

How to switch from public to private health insurance as a self-employed person:

If you are self-employed you have the freedom of choice and you have the option to choose between public and private health insurance. However, anyone who pursues an artistic or journalistic activity as a freelancer is assigned to the artists' social insurance fund and is subject to compulsory insurance in the statutory German health insurance system. He or she can be exempted from this insurance obligation at the beginning of the activity or above certain income limits and switch to private health insurance in Germany.

Find out more about our rates for the self-employed!

How to switch from public to private health insurance as a civil servant:

Most civil servants take out private health insurance because they are entitled to benefits by the government - this means that their employer usually pays 50 percent of the costs in case of illness. This makes private health insurance and their insurance plans particularly worthwhile for civil servants and trainees compared to public health insurance in Germany.

Find out more about our rates for civil servants!

How to switch from public to private health insurance as a student:

Still studying? Up to 25 you can be insured in the family insurance. However, you can exempt yourself from compulsory insurance at the beginning of your studies (at the latest 3 months after the beginning of your studies and the start of compulsory insurance) and insure yourself in private health insurance in Germany. This is especially worthwhile if your parents are civil servants, as the allowance covers 80 percent of medical costs up to the age of 25. When you start your professional life later on, you can switch to the statutory health insurance in Germany if necessary.

Find out more about our rates for students!

How does the change from public to private health insurance work?

1. Cancel the statutory health insurance properly

If you want to change from public to the private health insurance, you must cancel your public health insurance in Germany. We offer you help to write cancelation templates and explain what you have to do in your application process. 

2. Request a confirmation of cancellation

Specify when you want to leave your old health insurance and request a confirmation of termination. You will receive it within the next 14 days - this is the period stipulated by the Social Security Code.

3. Send proof of the new insurance to the employer or the old insurance company

Your new private health insurance provider will issue a "proof of the existence of other coverage in case of illness". This must be sent to the old insurance company.

Employees must also notify their employer that they are changing health insurance in Germany.

If you change your public health insurance or start a new employment relationship, your employer registers you with the specified health insurance fund using the employer notification procedure. He then receives the confirmation of membership back electronically. A membership certificate on paper is then no longer necessary.

Important: Public health insurance companies have to be informed in good time when switching to private health insurance in Germany.

If the old health insurance company is not informed in time, you will remain insured with them for the time being and cannot switch to private health insurance in Germany. This is to ensure a seamless transition, because every German needs health insurance coverage. Even if something should go wrong with the change, you can still go to the doctor in the meantime. Because then the old insurance company will cover the costs.

What are the benefits of private health insurance from ottonova?

• Contractually guaranteed top benefits: up to 100% reimbursement of private doctor's bills, visual aids and dentures. With ottonova, there are also no tariff-based price/benefit schedules, i.e. no hidden benefit reductions in the event of treatment.
• Fairly calculated tariffs: Individually adjustable tariffs (e.g. daily sickness benefits, relief component for old age), which are calculated conservatively to avoid constant premium increases.
• Appointment service: ottonova books and organizes your doctor's appointments. You simply write to us in the app in the chat and we take care of making the appointment for you.
• Digital health service: Your appointments and documents are organized in your app and always available. We answer your questions about rates directly and easily in the chat.
• Invoice reimbursement before payment: Simply submit invoices via the app and get reimbursed within a few days, i.e. before you have paid them.

Risks: What happens if the salary is again below the annual income threshold?

JAEG rises above your salary: This is not a problem for you. If the annual income limit increases (e.g. to € 69,300 in 2024) and your salary is suddenly below the annual income limit again, you will still remain in private health insurance. Since you will again be subject to compulsory insurance (no longer voluntarily insured by law), you only have to exempt yourself from your compulsory insurance with public health insurance in Germany.

Your salary falls below the JAEG: In principle, this is not a problem. If your salary falls below the JAEG - e.g. due to a change of job - then you would only have to change back to public health insurance. However, this does not apply to insured persons who were either not insured in the last 5 years or were exempt from compulsory insurance for half of the entire insurance period. In this case, you remain in private health insurance in Germany even with a lower income.

How is the public health insurance terminated?

If you want to take out private health insurance, you must first cancel your public health insurance. In public health insurance, a basic distinction is made between 2 types of termination:

Ordinary termination: As soon as the commitment period of 12 months has been fulfilled, the public health insurance can be terminated ordinarily. The notice period is two full months (to the month after next). This commitment period does not apply in the case of a change to private health insurance in Germany.

Extraordinary termination: However, the public health insurance can also be terminated extraordinarily. For this, certain conditions must be met. These are present if health insurance companies raise an additional contribution or announced premiums are discontinued. Here, too, the notice period is two full months.

Notice period for public health insurance

If you want to switch to private health insurance, you must observe certain deadlines.

The notice period for public health insurance is two months.

So if you want to start private health insurance on April 1, the notice of termination must be received by public health insurance no later than January 31. The cancellation then takes effect on March 31.

Minimum commitment period

Before 2021, you had to have been insured with your old public health insurance company for at least 18 months to be able to cancel and switch to another public health insurance. This period has been reduced to 12 months. However, it does not apply when you switch from public to private health insurance.

When you are in public health insurance and have an optional tariff, the minimum commitment period is up to three years. In this case this period does apply when switching to private health insurance and not only when switching you public health insurance.

What happens if I have an optional tariff?

Have you taken out an optional tariff with your public health insurance, for example, in order to receive premium refunds? According to the Federal Ministry of Health, this special contract must run for at least 1 to 3 years before you can cancel it. It is best to ask your health insurance company what the situation is in your case.

Special right of termination of public health insurance in case of additional contribution

A special case is the extraordinary termination of the public health insurance. If your public health insurance levies an additional contribution or increases it for the first time or reduces or cancels premiums that have already been promised, you are entitled to special termination. This means that the notice period is also two months, but it does not matter how long you have already been insured with this health insurance company. However, you must act quickly to cancel now:

When is it possible to change health insurers immediately without giving notice?

When you change your employer, you may be able to change your health insurance immediately. For example, you were previously subject to compulsory insurance and are earning a salary above the annual income threshold for the first time with your new employer? Then you can leave the GKV directly and join the new private health insurance immediately when you start your new job.

However, don't take too much time with this, but complete this task within the first 14 days in your new job.

Switch from private to another private health insurance company: What do I have to consider?

If insured persons change their private health insurance, part of their age reserves is lost. The transfer value is the portion of the age reserves that the insured can take with them when they change insurance to another private health insurance company. This amount is called the transfer value in private health insurance.

What is the transfer value in private health insurance?

The transfer value is the part of the ageing provisions, also called aging reserves, which is given with the termination and a change to another private insurance company. But this value is limited. Once a year, privately insured persons automatically receive information from their private health insurance company about their transfer value.

When changing tariffs within the same insurance company, all ageing reserves already formed can be carried over to the new tariff. This is different in the case of termination and a change to another private health insurer. In this case, policyholders can only take part of the aging provision with them.

How do you switch to private health insurance?

You have informed yourself, received advice and want to insure yourself with ottonova. Now the switch should be quick and, above all, uncomplicated. But very few people know exactly what to do. After all, you don't choose a new health insurance every day!

We have created a guide for you, with which nothing can go wrong. Follow the step-by-step instructions and get personal support via e-mail, chat or phone at any time.

1. Seven easy steps to ottonova - 100% digital
2. Appointment & consultation
3. Submit application via premium calculator
4. Answer health questions
5. Check and conclude insurance contract
6. Cancel your current insurance policy
7. Activate account in your app: all documents at a glance
8. Enjoy all the benefits of your new digital health insurance

Application Preparation:

Before we can insure you, we need an application from you. With ottonova, this is done online as a digital insurance. You can start your application process via the premium calculator. Here you enter your personal data.

Now, at the latest, it's time to check your notice periods for your current insurance. This is always done at the end of the month after next - i.e. with a notice period of two months. The basic prerequisite is, of course, that you are voluntarily insured in public health insurance, i.e. that you are not subject to compulsory insurance in the public health insurance.

If you need to check something, that's no problem at all: you can pause the application at any time and continue later.

As part of the application process, you have to go through a risk and health check. To do this, someone from the ottonova application team will contact you by phone. Based on your data, we will then also inform you of the premium for the tariffs you have selected.

Before you submit your final application, you will receive your contract documents. Here you will see your future monthly fee in black and white. If you agree with everything, you can submit your application by clicking on the "Submit now" button. To prevent the application from being sent off by mistake, you still have to confirm this step with a one-time pin, which we will send you by SMS.

Final insurance contract:

The insurance contract is concluded when we issue your insurance certificate in text form. The insurance certificate also states exactly when the insurance coverage begins. From now on you have a 14-day right of cancellation.

If you haven't already done so, you can now activate your account in the ottonova app. In addition to the insurance policy, you will also find all other important documents relating to your contract in the documents area.

Insurance certificate and employer's certificate:

In Germany, health insurance is compulsory: insurers must ensure that you are insured without any gaps, even if you switch. You will therefore receive a certificate of insurance for your previous insurance and a certificate for the employer for the employer's allowance and for pension expenses. You can download these documents in your app, just like your insurance certificate.