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Ulrich Wortberg from the Rhineland-Palatinate Consumer Center explains in an interview what the BGH ruling on illegal increases in private health insurance premiums means in concrete terms tagesschau.de.
tagesschau.de: How important is the latest BGH resolution to everyone with private insurance?
Ulrich Wortberg: The court ruling is important for all private health insurance policyholders insofar as it forces insurers to make the reasons for the increase in premiums more understandable, transparent and understandable. But it won’t stop insurers from significantly increasing private health insurance premiums in the future. It also makes it clear that in the future, insurers will not yet have to make their calculations so open that ordinary people can understand them from beginning to end.
tagesschau.de: Is it worth filing a complaint against previous premium increases now? And if so, for whom?
Wortberg: Unfortunately, there is no general answer to these questions. But you should not rush and proceed in several steps. First of all, policyholders should wait to learn what the individual reasons for the BGH ruling are and look for letters from the insurers themselves about premium increases in recent years.
Second, they should check these cards to see if they should also be classified as ineffective according to BGH’s reasoning. Consumer advice centers plan to create advice aids with sample letters as soon as the reasons for failure are available.
Third, they should try to reverse the increases through extrajudicial means. It is definitely worth filing a lawsuit for policyholders in the companies directly affected by the judgment. If you have discovered that your own contribution increases have not occurred legally, you should consider taking legal action if they are unbearably high. When this is the case, it can only be determined with reference to the income and / or pension of each individual.
tagesschau.de: Is it all a zero-sum game in the end, because insurance companies will recoup potential refunds with the next premium increase?
Wortberg: Companies must comply with legal and now judicial requirements regarding price increases. It may be that, in the long run, you can get the raises again. But that won’t “just happen” with the next increase letter. In either case, increases can be delayed for several years.
tagesschau.de: Do policyholders now have to be careful not to fall for dubious companies or law firms that want to pressure them to sue?
Wortberg: Yes, we actually see this risk based on experience after major litigation involving life insurance or after legal changes to change rates on private health insurance. No one who is now called or written by someone without being asked should sign an order of supposed help without verifying and hastily. Of course, the same applies to unsolicited advertising on the Internet or on social media. After all, no one buys a new TV or car just because the salesperson calls them without asking. At best, nothing happens. In the worst case, it can happen that you throw hundreds of euros or more out the window with no equivalent.
The interview was conducted by Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de.
