Laotze

[quote user="Chrissie"]Our insurer told us that once you had entered into a top-up contract, the company was only allowed to increase the premiums by a rate agreed with government every year.  i.e. in theory there can be no penalty just because you are getting older and needing more treatment.  Chrissie (81) [/quote] Yes this is correct - your premium will not increase if you have a lot of  claims but only, as stated, at the agreed rate per annum. And many mutelles dont take new clients over 65. Those that do are at much higher premiums than younger people. My premium is a third of my husband's who was 63 at the time.

A small point that doesnt seem to have been mentioned in any of the posts on this thread - your premium for a mutuelle is set AT THE AGE OF ENTRY. Perhaps this is why for French people who start paying in at the age they start work, it does not seem too expensive. Those British  who start at retirement age will find their premiums very much higher. My premiums are a fraction of those of my husband who is a decade older than me. Those who have decided to put off joining a mutualle until later will find their premiums have gone up in the interim.