One Ruling, Two Eras of Tariffs
If you compare two people on identical private tariffs but very different premiums, the reason is sometimes not age or health but when they signed. A European Court of Justice ruling led to a firm rule in Germany: from 21 December 2012, newly calculated private health tariffs must be unisex — priced without regard to gender. Tariffs sold before that date could be bisex, using separate male and female pricing. The market has carried both ever since.
Why gender mattered at all: insurers priced on statistical differences — women historically claimed more in some age bands (partly maternity-related), men more in others. Bisex tariffs baked those differences into the premium; unisex tariffs pool them, so the same tariff costs the same regardless of gender.
What Changed for Whom
The switch to unisex did not move premiums in one direction for everyone. Pooling risk across genders nudged some groups’ premiums up and others’ down relative to the old gender-specific maths, depending on the tariff and age band. Neither system is inherently “cheaper” — they are different ways of distributing the same expected costs. What matters to you is simply which basis your own tariff uses and how it has aged.
Why Old Bisex Tariffs Still Exist
- Existing contracts continued: the rule applied to newly calculated tariffs, so pre-2012 bisex tariffs kept running for the people already in them
- Ageing reserves are tied to the tariff: a long-held bisex tariff carries substantial Alterungsrückstellungen, which is part of why people stay
- Switching resets the basis: moving to a new tariff today means a unisex one — worth knowing before you assume a switch is automatically better
What It Means If You Switch
An internal Tarifwechsel under §204 VVG lets you move within your insurer while keeping your accrued reserves — but the destination tariff will be unisex if it was calculated after 2012. That is not a reason to avoid switching; a well-chosen newer tariff can still be cheaper or better. It is simply a factor to model honestly: compare the real premiums and benefits, not the label. Your gender no longer prices a new tariff, so decisions rest on age, health history, benefit level and reserves.
The Bottom Line
The 2012 unisex rule split German private cover into gender-priced (bisex) and gender-neutral (unisex) tariffs. Older bisex contracts persist because reserves and continuity keep members in them, while every newly calculated tariff is unisex. Neither is universally better — so if you are comparing or switching, weigh the actual premiums, benefits and reserves rather than the era on the label.
Frequently Asked Questions
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