# Health Insurance question



## det1234 (Sep 28, 2017)

Hi,

I am a Dutch national of 25 years old and I used to work and live in Berlin, I left this februari and did the abmeldung by mail. I didn't yet have an adress in the Netherlands so i only filled in the Netherlands as my new adress on the form. I thought my former employer would cancel my health insurance for me, as they also signed me up for it. But apperently they didn't.

Now my old roommate sent me a picture of a letter from the health insurance i have to pay around 5000 euro's for the months march until now. Apparently they switched from the mandatory health insurance to some kind of crazy expensive private insurance without my knowing or agreeing.

I don't have an abmeldungbestatigung but i do have proof of my insurance in the netherlands and that i was living in the netherlands from februari until now. I do have a copy of the abmeldungform, but i don't know if that is sufficient.

My questions are these: is it possible to cancel my health insurance retroactively? And what happens if i just ignore this letter and don't pay? I really am not able and willing to pay them for something i didn't use and or needed. What would you suggest i should do in this situation?


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

det1234 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am a Dutch national of 25 years old and I used to work and live in Berlin, I left this februari and did the abmeldung by mail. I didn't yet have an adress in the Netherlands so i only filled in the Netherlands as my new adress on the form. I thought my former employer would cancel my health insurance for me, as they also signed me up for it. But apperently they didn't.
> 
> ...


I once had a similar situation because I had not been aware of a law change and simply asked my insurance to put my membership on 'inactive', which we had done during a previous move abroad.

Scan the Abmeldungsformular and send it to the municipality you were living in stating the date when you sent it by post (I guess you didn't send it by registered mail?) and ask for a copy of your Abmeldungsbestätigung to be sent to you by email.

The Berlin Meldeamt sent the email-Bestätigung within 3 days.


----------



## Tellus (Nov 24, 2013)

ALKB said:


> The Berlin Meldeamt sent the email-Bestätigung within 3 days.


Reckon that some Berlin Bürgerämter in current states are not able to react in few days...


----------



## det1234 (Sep 28, 2017)

Thank you very much, I got an e-mail reply from the burgeramt this morning. But what I understand from it is that they cannot send me a copy through email because I didn't leave a new adress on the form i had sent through post.

If I show the abmeldungbestätigung to the health insurance company, do you think they will cancel the fees i still have to pay? Otherwise if I give it to them they will know my new adress and will come ask for money there so i am a little hesitant of giving the burgeramt my new adress in the Netherlands.

Thanks a lot for helping me!


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

det1234 said:


> Thank you very much, I got an e-mail reply from the burgeramt this morning. But what I understand from it is that they cannot send me a copy through email because I didn't leave a new adress on the form i had sent through post.
> 
> If I show the abmeldungbestätigung to the health insurance company, do you think they will cancel the fees i still have to pay? Otherwise if I give it to them they will know my new adress and will come ask for money there so i am a little hesitant of giving the burgeramt my new adress in the Netherlands.
> 
> Thanks a lot for helping me!


And that's why de-registration by post is not a good idea.

When doing it in person, simply giving the town is sufficient if you don't know your new address yet.

Does the Bürgeramt acknowledge that you de-registered in time?

An Abmeldebestätigung stating the date you left Germany should cancel the health insurance fees from that date onward. 

They should have sent you a letter requesting your new employment information when your employer stopped paying your fees and then another one before they put you on the private-we-don't-know-how-much-you-earn-plan. Do you know whether that happened?

In the meantime, you could also try to contact them with evidence of work/insurance/residence in the Netherlands from date X. That's what my insurance suggested when I wasn't sure how quickly I could get the Abmledebestätigung.


----------



## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

I've successfully done the Abmeldung by post a few times, but always given a return address because I wanted proof. They've been good enough to send the Bestätigung to Canada within a few weeks. (I would mail in the form before leaving Germany though.)

In this case I think rather than being too concerned about the bill, just get in touch with the insurance company and show them everything relevant. Anmeldebestätigung if you can get one, but if not then a copy of the Abmeldungsformular. Then your Dutch equivalent of an Anmeldung, to show when you settled in the Netherlands. Proof of new employment and Dutch health insurance, plus proof of termination of German employment. 

That should all be more than sufficient.


----------

