8000 francs back payment Rashout doesn't help - health insurance company wants money from grieving husband
To avoid having to take on her debts, a man renounces his inheritance after the death of his wife. Nevertheless, he now has to pay outstanding claims from her health insurance company.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Outstanding debts can still be owed to heirs even if they have disclaimed the inheritance.
- This is illustrated by the case of a widower in the canton of Bern who has to pay around CHF 8,000 in outstanding claims from his deceased wife's health insurance company.
- The reason for this is the so-called joint and several liability, whereby spouses are jointly liable for each other's basic needs. This also includes health insurance.
It is possible to waive the inheritance so that descendants do not have to pay for the debts of their deceased relatives. To do this, the heirs must submit a corresponding declaration to the relevant authorities within a period of three months. Outstanding bills then no longer have to be paid.
An example case reported on by the SRF consumer magazine "Espresso" shows that heirs can still be faced with claims. According to the report, a 55-year-old man from the canton of Berne claimed his inheritance on time after the death of his wife in order to avoid falling into a debt trap.
However, the health insurance company Helsana is demanding outstanding premium payments and cost contributions of around CHF 8,000 from the man. "I then sent Helsana a copy of the notice of inheritance by letter," reports the man.
Spouses are liable for each other
But the health insurance company insists on the claim, and the widower also refuses to pay the bills. When asked by SRF, Helsana writes that the claim is not based on inheritance law, but on joint liability. According to this, spouses are "jointly and severally liable for the basic needs of a household - this also includes health insurance, provided there was a joint household."
"We regret this case and can understand that this can lead to a stressful situation," Helsana media spokesperson Urs Kilchenmann told SRF. According to Prio.Swiss, the association of health insurance companies in Switzerland, health insurance companies consistently enforce KVG claims even in the event of an inheritance.
According to social insurance expert Kaspar Gehring, the health insurance company's reasoning is correct. The legislator wanted to ensure that there would be no premium shortfalls: "It is considered important that health insurance companies are well funded," says Gehring.
