Swiss health insurance for Brits in Zurich: basic cover, the franchise and the 30 November deadline

In Switzerland you pick your own health insurer, your own excess and your own model, and the choice can be worth thousands of francs a year. Here's how to make it without losing a weekend to spreadsheets.

The short version

• Basic health insurance (Grundversicherung) is compulsory for every resident, must be taken out within three months of arriving, and every insurer must accept you [1][2].
• Adults choose a yearly franchise between CHF 300 and CHF 2,500; children between CHF 0 and CHF 600. After it, you pay 10% of bills up to CHF 700 a year (CHF 350 for children) [3].
• The 2027 average adult premium in the canton of Zurich is CHF 477 a month (about £435), up 5.7% [4].
• To change insurer for 1 January, your cancellation letter must reach your current insurer by 30 November [2].
• Lower earners in Zurich can get an individual premium reduction (IPV) from SVA Zurich [5].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = CHF 1.0976).

What basic cover is, and why everyone has the same

Basic insurance is governed by the federal Health Insurance Act (KVG), and the cover is identical by law whichever approved insurer you choose. That's the bit Brits find odd: you're shopping on price and service, not on what's included. Insurers can't refuse you, load your premium for a bad back or ask about your health for basic cover [2].

GOV.UK's Healthcare in Switzerland guide confirms that everyone living here must register and get insurance from the list of government-approved providers [1]. The exception is people whose healthcare the UK pays for through an S1, mainly UK State Pensioners; they register the S1 with the Gemeinsame Einrichtung KVG instead [1]. Our guide to healthcare in Zurich covers the S1, the GHIC and finding a doctor.

Premiums are per person, so a family pays one for each adult and each child, with children and young adults under 25 paying less [3]. If you work more than eight hours a week for an employer, you're covered by compulsory accident insurance through work and can leave accident cover off your health policy, which trims the premium [3].

The franchise: your yearly excess

The franchise works like the excess on car insurance. You pay the first slice of your medical bills each calendar year, then a 10% co-payment (Selbstbehalt) on the rest, and after that the insurer pays everything [3]. Your maximum out-of-pocket for the year is the franchise plus CHF 700 [3].

On top of that, a hospital stay costs CHF 15 a day, though children, young adults in education or training and pregnant women don't pay it [3]. Women don't pay the franchise or co-payment for maternity services either [1].

Low or high?

The higher your franchise, the lower your premium. The trade-off is simple arithmetic:

• A healthy year. If you only see a doctor once or twice, a CHF 2,500 franchise usually wins, because the premium saving is bigger than the bills you pay yourself.
• A year with regular costs. Say your bills come to CHF 3,000. With a CHF 300 franchise you pay CHF 300 plus 10% of CHF 2,700, so CHF 570 in all. With CHF 2,500 you pay CHF 2,500 plus 10% of CHF 500, so CHF 2,550. That's about £1,800 more, which a cheaper premium rarely makes up.

If you're on regular medication, pregnant or planning to be, or managing a long-term condition, the low franchise is usually the safer bet. Put a bit by in a savings account if you go high: a bill for an MRI scan in February is not the moment to discover you've no buffer.

Choosing a model

Priminfo, the federal comparison site, sorts insurers' offers by model as well as by price, and the categories it uses changed for 2027 [4]. Broadly, there's the standard model with free choice of doctor, and cheaper models where you agree to see a family doctor or group practice first, ring a telemedicine line before booking, or start at a pharmacy. Break the rules of a restricted model and the insurer can refuse to pay, so read the conditions.

What Zurich premiums cost in 2027

The Federal Office of Public Health announced the 2027 premiums on 29 September 2026. Nationally the average premium rises 5.0% to CHF 412 a month (about £375) [4].

These are averages across all franchises and models from the federal table of cantonal premiums [4]. Premiums also vary between regions within the canton and from insurer to insurer, so put your own postcode into priminfo.ch rather than trusting the average. For context, the canton's own press release put Zurich's average rise at CHF 22 a month (about £20) across all ages [5].

Switching insurer or franchise

You can shop around every year, and with premiums climbing most autumns, plenty of people do.

1. Wait for the letter. Insurers must tell you your new premium by the end of October [4].
2. Compare on priminfo.ch, which lists every approved insurer's price for your postcode, age, franchise and model [4].
3. Sign up with the new insurer for 1 January. It must accept you for basic cover [2].
4. Cancel in writing. Your letter must reach your current insurer by 30 November [2]. Priminfo has sample letters [4]. Send it in plenty of time; sending it by registered post gives you proof.
5. Mid-year switch. On the standard model with the CHF 300 franchise, you can also cancel with effect from the end of June, with three months' notice [2].

Tread carefully with supplementary policies. Insurers can set conditions on them or turn you down entirely, and once you cancel one, the insurer doesn't have to take you back [2]. Many people keep their supplementary cover where it is and only move the basic insurance, which is perfectly allowed.

Supplementary insurance: the optional extras

Supplementary cover (Zusatzversicherung) is private insurance on top of the basic policy. It's where Brits often top up for dental treatment, glasses, alternative medicine, a semi-private or private hospital room with a choice of consultant, and cover when travelling. Unlike basic insurance, the insurer can ask health questions and say no [2]. Apply while you're young and well, and compare what you'd really use against the premium; a gold-plated policy isn't compulsory, however hard the sales call.

Help with premiums: Zurich's premium reduction

The canton of Zurich helps lower earners through the individual premium reduction (individuelle Prämienverbilligung, IPV), run by SVA Zurich [5]. For 2027 the canton has set aside about CHF 1.4 billion for premium reductions, around CHF 800 million of it for IPV [5].

• How it's worked out: your entitlement depends on income and family situation. You're expected to pay a share of your premium based on your taxable income: 9.4% for single people and single parents, and 11.8% for married couples and registered partners in 2027 [5].
• Families: for families with children, the income limit is CHF 71,200 (about £64,900), or CHF 94,900 (about £86,500) with at least one young adult in training, and taxable assets must stay under CHF 300,000 [5].
• How to claim: people likely to qualify on their tax data usually get an application form from SVA Zurich automatically. Others can apply themselves by the end of March of the following year [5].

New arrivals taxed at source may not show up in the system straight away, so if money is tight, use the SVA Zurich calculator and apply yourself rather than waiting for a letter.

Got a question on franchises or a switching tale to share? Bring it to our community group for Brits in Switzerland.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: Healthcare in Switzerland (last updated 1 November 2021, still the current guidance at 11 November 2026)
2. ch.ch: Health insurance: taking out, changing, cancelling
3. ch.ch: Health insurance costs
4. Federal Office of Public Health (BAG): Krankenkassenprämien steigen durchschnittlich um 5,0 Prozent (29 September 2026, with the table of cantonal average premiums 2026/2027, and priminfo.ch)
5. Kanton Zürich: Kanton legt Prämienverbilligungen 2027 fest (29 September 2026)
6. Priminfo: Prämienrechner 2027 (federal premium calculator)

Keep reading

• Healthcare and health insurance in Zurich
• Cost of living in Zurich vs London and the UK average
• Swiss tax for Brits: withholding tax, cantons and lump-sum taxation
• The NHS when you live abroad (and the S1 for pensioners in the EU)