Cancel Swiss health insurance 2026: deadlines, steps and template

For the mandatory basic insurance (health care insurance under KVG/LAMal), 30 November is a receipt deadline: on that day your cancellation letter must be with your current insurer. It is expressly not a posting deadline – a letter posted on 29 November that arrives on 2 December is late.

So allow a buffer. On its premium portal the Federal Office of Public Health advises sending the cancellation by mid-November as registered mail or A-Post Plus. Both are tracked, so you can prove receipt by the insurer – the decisive point if timeliness is ever disputed.

If the cancellation arrives late it is not void: it takes effect on the next possible date. In practice that means another year with your current insurer if you have a higher deductible or a restricted model.

30 November is not a general annual date; it hangs on the premium notice. Your insurer must announce the coming year's premium by 31 October at the latest. If the premium changes, you may cancel with one month's notice to the end of the month preceding the start of the new premium – that is, to the end of November.

In practice: this right to cancel is open to you regardless of deductible and insurance model. Even with a deductible above the ordinary amount, or on a family-doctor, HMO or telemedicine model, you can switch on 1 January – whereas the regular mid-year switch stays closed to that group.

Rare but possible is a mid-year premium increase. The one-month notice applies there too: you may cancel to the end of the month preceding the new premium.

Basic-insurance benefits are identical by law across every insurer. The differences are only in premium, deductible, insurance model and service – so a switch is a price and service change, not a loss of cover.

In basic insurance, acceptance is mandatory: the new insurer may not reject you or require a health check. But your previous policy only ends once the new insurer notifies the old one that you are insured without interruption. So settle acceptance before you cancel and register with the new insurer in good time.

One pitfall: anyone with unpaid premiums, cost shares, default interest or debt-collection costs cannot switch basic insurer until those are fully paid. Check open amounts early enough – not first in November.

Supplementary insurance – hospital, dental, outpatient, alternative medicine – runs under the Insurance Contract Act (VVG/LCA), not the KVG. 30 November does not apply. Only your policy's deadlines count; often that is three months to the end of the calendar year, which means the cancellation has to arrive by the end of September. There are also multi-year contracts and different deadlines. Checking is mandatory here.

Two differences from basic insurance are decisive. First: in supplementary insurance there is no obligation to accept you. The new insurer may require a health check and can reject you or add reservations. So only cancel once the new supplementary cover has been confirmed in writing – otherwise you end up with no supplementary cover at all.

Second: cancelling the basic insurance does not automatically end supplementary cover, not even with the same insurer. If you want to end both, you must cancel both – ideally in separate letters, or at least naming both contracts explicitly so there is no misunderstanding. If your insurer raises the supplementary premium, many policies grant an extra right to cancel on a shorter deadline; the conditions are in your policy.

If you are happy with your insurer's service, changing the deductible or the insurance model is often the simpler lever: it also takes effect on 1 January, but you stay with the same insurer. The federal premium portal recommends announcing such a change by mid-November.

The exact notification deadlines for deductible and model changes are set by the insurers themselves, though, and are not the same everywhere. If in doubt ask your insurer directly – and treat the notification like a cancellation to be safe, i.e. in writing and provable.

1. Compare premiums. As soon as the new premiums are published in autumn, compare on the federal premium portal (priminfo.admin.ch) or directly with the insurers. Look at premium, deductible and model – basic benefits are the same everywhere.

2. Secure the new insurer. Register with the new basic insurer and have cover from 1 January confirmed. If you are also switching supplementary cover, obtain the new insurer's written acceptance first.

3. Check open amounts. Unpaid premiums, cost shares or debt-collection costs block the switch. Clear them before cancelling.

4. Find the cancellation address. Use your insurer's cancellation or correspondence address. If your insurer works through regional agencies, the address on your policy or premium invoice applies.

5. Draft the cancellation. Use the template below or write it yourself – the required details are in the next section.

6. Send provably. Post by mid-November as registered mail or A-Post Plus and keep the receipt until the confirmation arrives.

7. Check the confirmation. Ask for a written cancellation confirmation and check that the end date it names is correct.

A health-insurance cancellation needs no reason, but it does need unambiguous details. If the insured number is missing or it is unclear which contracts are meant, you risk queries – and in the last week of November those cost valuable time.

• Your full name, address and date of birth.

• Insured number or policy number.

• A clear statement of what is being cancelled: basic insurance under KVG, supplementary insurance under VVG, or both – listing each supplementary product individually.

• The desired cancellation date (usually 31 December).

• For families: every co-insured person with name and insured number.

• A request for written confirmation of the cancellation.

• Place, date and your signature.

Because the deadline is a receipt deadline, proof of sending is not a luxury but your only evidence. Registered mail (from CHF 8.99) gives you an item number, proof of posting and proof of delivery. A-Post Plus (from CHF 5.49) is the cheaper tracked option: delivery is recorded electronically without the recipient signing – with companies and insurers that is often even the faster route. A plain send by A-Post or B-Post is possible from CHF 2.49, but provides no proof.

With SwissDocs24 you fill in the template online, check the PDF preview, and we print, envelope and hand the letter to Swiss Post – no printer, no password. You keep the tracking receipt.

The cancellation goes to the address your insurer publishes for correspondence and cancellations – some insurers have a dedicated cancellation address that differs from the general contact address. If your insurer works through regional agencies, use the address on your policy or premium invoice.

For CSS, Helsana, SWICA, Assura, Sanitas, CONCORDIA, KPT, Visana, Groupe Mutuel, Atupri, Sympany, EGK and ÖKK we have collected the published addresses – each with the deadline, the steps and a pre-filled template. The link is below under “See also”.

• Next year's premiums compared.

• Acceptance by the new basic insurer settled; written acceptance obtained for supplementary cover.

• Open premiums and cost shares paid.

• Cancellation letter drafted with name, address, insured number, named contracts and cancellation date.

• Correct cancellation address used (watch for an agency address on the policy).

• Sent by mid-November as registered mail or A-Post Plus, receipt kept.

• Cancellation confirmation received and end date checked.

• Supplementary insurance cancelled separately and on time.