Top-up insurance

[sid]

It's my day for asking questions...

My wife and I are due to have some dental treatment which may be expensive (isn't it always!). Discussing this with one of our French neighbours yesterday she (the neighbour) said that it was normal to increase the dental benefit category if you're on a low class of cover, which we are, and then reduce the cover next year on renewal, "that's what we all do"!

I may be a bit naive but is this common practice? I wonder if the revised category has an initial run-in period so that a claim for dental care for example  can't be made straightaway?

 

[NormanH]

I may be wrong, but I think you have to wait till the renewal date before you can ask to change the level of cover.

You certainly have to if you want to change assurers, but that might be because you can't have two at once.

By the way the level of reimbursement of dental work is fairly low even with the best Mutuelles.

[Kong]

Might be useful, but my mutuel agent suggested getting treatment near year renewal time. Get the practioner to invoice you in two parts, one for the current year and one in the next year. That way you get two years topup allowance for the one treatment. I understand it is common pratice!

Kong

[confused of chalus]

Our mutuelle agent told us that we could up the cover if we needed something expensive - like dentistry or in patient treatments, single rooms tv etc. She said it was a matter of a phone call and it would be immediate.

But you had to keep the higher level (and premiums !) for at least 12 months after renewal, I think.

c'est normal, apparently!

[NormanH]

Perhaps it is different with different companies (things are often different from one place to another as we see so often)  , but when I asked earlier this year I had this reply: 

Nous faisons suite à votre mail du 10 courant, concernant votre demande d’augmentation des garanties auprès de notre Compagnie

 

Nous vous précisons que ce contrat a pris effet le 1

01 2012 et que le changement de garanties ne peut se faire qu’à

l’échéance anniversaire, soit le 1^er janvier

 

That is to say you can only change the level of cover at the moment when you renew it each year.(for mine anyway)

Fortunately I have an adequate cover for this year, but I wanted  a higher level of hospital cover after the publicity about the high levels of 'dépassement des horaires '

I wonder if anybody has actually managed to get a higher cover with  just a phone call, as opposed to the promise that it will be possible?

These companies are notorious for promising things that don't quite work out as expected.

It would be worth somebody making an enquiry to see if theirs gives the same reply as mine when tested.

PS I have now found this which suggests that it is possible with some companies:

http://www.resiliation-mutuelle.fr/changer-de-garanties-mutuelle-en-cours-annee

I think this is usually a question of adding options rather than changing the original contract if that isn't splitting hairs.