Three options, and what each one costs you
| Option | What you keep | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the contract running | Everything, including cover abroad where the terms allow it | The full premium, for cover you may barely use |
| Dormancy, Anwartschaft | Entry age, ageing reserve, no new health check on return | A small monthly amount. No cover while dormant |
| Cancel | Nothing | Free now, and expensive if you ever return |
There are two forms of dormancy, a small one and a large one. The small one preserves your entry age, the large one also preserves the ageing reserve and costs more per month. Which one is right depends on how likely your return is, and that is a conversation worth ten minutes.
Three things to check
| 1 | What does your contract say about cover outside Germany, and for how long? |
| 2 | Are you still required to hold health cover in Germany, for example because you keep a residence or an employment relationship here? |
| 3 | When does cover begin in your destination country, and is there a gap between the two? |
Send me your policy and your moving date and I will tell you which of the three options fits. That costs nothing and takes one message.
Common questions
Does my policy end automatically when I move abroad?
No. Whether and how it continues depends on your contract and on where you move. Many contracts continue to cover you in the EU, and several offer worldwide cover for a limited period. Read the terms before you give notice.
What is an Anwartschaft?
A dormancy arrangement. You pause the cover and pay a much smaller monthly amount. In return your entry age and your ageing reserve are preserved, and when you come back the contract resumes without a new health check. For anyone who might return to Germany, this is usually the right answer.
What happens if I simply cancel?
Your cover ends and, in most cases, the ageing reserve you built up is gone with it. If you later return to Germany and reapply, you start again at your then age and with a fresh health assessment. That is the part that gets expensive, and it is invisible on the day you cancel.
I am moving permanently and will never come back. What then?
Then cancelling can be right. But check two things first: whether you keep any obligation to be insured in Germany, and whether your new country recognises German cover during a transition. A gap of a few months has consequences in both systems.
Send me your situation, I will tell you where you stand
No form, no obligation, and an answer in plain English. If the statutory system is the better fit for you, I will say so. I only work on private health insurance, so I have no reason to sell you anything else.
This page is general information on German law and market practice as at September 2026. It is not legal or tax advice. Figures are stated with their source and date in the German version of each topic.