A Legal Safety Net Inside PKV
One concern people raise about private health insurance (private Krankenversicherung, PKV) is what happens if premiums become unaffordable. German law answers this with a set of safety-net tariffs that every PKV insurer must offer. These guarantee continued cover with capped premiums, so no privately insured person is left without protection.
Three safety nets: the Basistarif and Standardtarif provide GKV-equivalent cover with a premium ceiling, while the Notlagentarif is an emergency tariff for those who have fallen behind on premiums.
The Basistarif
The Basistarif is open to all PKV policyholders and offers benefits comparable to statutory insurance (GKV). Its defining feature is a premium cap: by law it cannot exceed the maximum GKV contribution, and if paying even that would cause hardship, the premium can be halved. Insurers must accept applicants into the Basistarif without risk surcharges or exclusions, making it an important fallback. The trade-off is that benefits are GKV-level rather than the richer cover of a standard PKV tariff.
The Standardtarif
The Standardtarif is an older safety-net tariff available to people who were already in PKV before 2009 and meet certain age or contribution conditions. Like the Basistarif, it provides GKV-comparable benefits with a capped premium. For long-standing policyholders, the Standardtarif can be cheaper than the Basistarif, so those eligible should compare both.
| Tariff | For whom | Premium cap |
|---|---|---|
| Basistarif | All PKV policyholders | Max GKV contribution (halved on hardship) |
| Standardtarif | Pre-2009 policyholders | Max GKV contribution |
| Notlagentarif | Those in premium arrears | Very low; emergency cover only |
The Notlagentarif
The Notlagentarif (emergency tariff) is different: it is not a lifestyle choice but an automatic fallback for policyholders who fall significantly behind on premium payments. It carries a very low premium but covers only acute illness, pain and pregnancy-related care — not the full range of benefits. Policyholders are moved into it after a defined arrears process and return to their normal tariff once debts are cleared. It exists to prevent total loss of cover, not as a long-term solution.
How to Use the Safety Nets Wisely
These tariffs are valuable backstops, but they are not first choices: their benefits are basic, and the Basistarif in particular can still be relatively expensive at the cap. Before resorting to a safety-net tariff, explore a §204 VVG internal switch to a cheaper standard tariff, a higher deductible, or dropping unused modules — these usually preserve better benefits at a lower cost. Reserve the safety nets for genuine financial difficulty, and seek advice before switching, as moving into and out of them has consequences for your cover.
Frequently Asked Questions
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