Special termination right: switching when your fund raises its rate
If your fund raises its rate in January, you can join another fund until the end of January, even within the 12-month lock-in; it starts on 1 April 2027.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your deadline after a rate rise
New fund from
1 April 2027
| Last month to join | January 2027 |
| Last month with the old fund | March 2027 |
| Months at the higher rate | 3 |
Applies even within the twelve-month lock-in.
When a German health fund introduces an additional contribution (Zusatzbeitrag) or raises it, its members may leave without waiting out the usual 12-month lock-in (section 175(4), sentence 6 of Book V of the Social Code). You must join the new fund by the end of the month in which the higher rate starts; for a rise on 1 January 2027, that means by 31 January. The notice period itself does not shorten: the old membership ends at the close of the month after next. Join in January and you stay with the old fund until the end of March, paying the higher rate for 3 months; join in December and it is only 2. For a rise of 0.3 points each of those months costs an employee on €3,800 gross €5.70. You do not need to cancel yourself; the new fund reports the switch. The only members excluded are those in an optional sick-pay tariff.
Two deadlines people mix up
The special right moves only one of two deadlines. The first is the lock-in: normally you stay with a fund for 12 months before you may leave. That lock-in falls away as soon as the fund raises its additional rate. The second is the notice period: membership ends at the close of the month after next following your choice. That period stays. So anyone switching because of a rise still pays the higher rate for a few months.
How many depends only on when you act. The table assumes a member who joined their fund just four months earlier and so could not switch at all without the rise:
| Rise from | Join in | Last month old | New fund from | Months higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2027 | December 2026 | February 2027 | 1 March 2027 | 2 |
| January 2027 | January 2027 | March 2027 | 1 April 2027 | 3 |
| April 2027 | March 2027 | May 2027 | 1 June 2027 | 2 |
| April 2027 | April 2027 | June 2027 | 1 July 2027 | 3 |
| July 2027 | June 2027 | August 2027 | 1 September 2027 | 2 |
| July 2027 | July 2027 | September 2027 | 1 October 2027 | 3 |
The rule behind it: join in the month before the rise and you pay the higher rate for two months; join in the month of the rise and it is three. Earlier still only works if the rise has already been decided by then: know it two months ahead, join at once, and you pay the higher rate for just one month. In practice fund boards usually set January rates only in December, so December and January are the realistic months.
What happens on your payslip
For employees the employer deducts the contribution and pays it to the fund you named. Up to the switch date it uses the old fund’s higher rate, and from the first day of the new month the new fund’s rate. You see the switch on the payslip for the month the new membership starts, in the health insurance line and usually in the fund’s name. If the old fund still appears after the date, you probably did not tell your employer; contributions are then rebooked afterwards and nothing is lost. Voluntary members who pay themselves change their standing order or direct debit for the switch date; the new fund sends its own contribution notice based on the latest income evidence.
What waiting costs
One extra month at the old fund is usually not much, but it adds up. For a rise of 0.3 points an employee on €3,800 gross pays €5.70 more a month, a pensioner with a €1,600 state pension €2.40. The gap to the cheapest fund, which you save every month afterwards, often matters more; the contribution calculator shows it for your state.
How to go about it
First, check your own fund’s rate. Once it is clear in December that it rises in January, you can act. Second, pick a new fund and apply for membership there, online or on paper. The new fund asks for your current fund and reports the switch electronically; the old one confirms the end within two weeks. Third, tell your employer so that contributions go to the right fund from the switch date. Pensioners do nothing; the funds inform the pension insurance.
A mistake that happens every year: members send their old fund a cancellation and forget to join a new one in time. A cancellation on its own only takes effect if you prove other cover within the notice period; the application to the new fund is the step that counts. Ask for confirmation of the date it was received.
When there is no special right
If a fund lowers its rate or keeps it unchanged, the ordinary lock-in applies. The same if another fund becomes cheaper: the right depends on your own fund’s increase, not on the gap to competitors. Members in an optional sick-pay tariff stay bound despite a rise (section 53(8) SGB V).
The calculator on the page about switching fund works out your own date from your joining month and the month of the rise. Which funds have just raised their rate shows up from the day it applies in the list of all additional rates.