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General Questions

Who can I contact if I cannot find my currently valid insurance conditions on the website?

We will be happy to send you the insurance conditions for all contracts that are not shown on our website in person.

Please contact our customer service at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Do I have a free choice of doctor or do I have to use contract clinics?

We offer our customers the option of visiting doctors and clinics of their choice. Via an app, insured persons also have the option of seeking medical advice 24/7 and even being able to call or chat with doctors. The application also includes a symptom checker and helps to locate doctors in the vicinity. 

How do I reach the BDAE in a medical emergency?

In the event of a medical emergency (e.g. an accident, an unscheduled hospital admission due to an emergency situation, etc.) you can reach the BDAE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the emergency hotline +49-40-30 68 74 74. Contact with medical assistance is guaranteed.

What incentives does BDAE offer its policyholders to live healthier or to look for favourable treatment options?

We do not work with incentives, because tracking health programmes, for example, would involve a lot of administrative work and this would then also be calculated into the insurance premiums. Living a healthy life is the responsibility of each individual. Our approach is based on calculating fair insurance premiums by zones, age, pre-existing conditions and deductible levels. For example, the insurance premium is lower if insured persons choose an annual deductible.

In EXPAT INFINITY, insured persons can choose a deductible of up to 1,000 euros, which significantly reduces the premium.

The age and country scales also help to calculate insurance premiums fairly. The health care systems of some countries are still relatively inexpensive, which is why insured persons pay lower premiums if they live in more favourable country zones Older insured persons in turn pay higher premiums than younger ones, because statistically speaking, health care costs increase with age - even if there are exceptions for individuals.

What are the benefits included in the BDAE membership?

As a member of BDAE e.V. you have the following exclusive benefits:

  • Detailed information about living in your designated country and advice on social security issues
  • Web-access to further information regarding your designated country
  • Assistance services by ALLIANZ GLOBAL ASSISTANCE Service Deutschland

What happens to my annuity insurance/nursing insurance when I go abroad?

Depending on the country you are going to and the duration of your stay, losing some years of contributions might be the consequence. This could also result in having no right to benefits after returning home. We therefore recommend that you seek advice before you leave the country – possibly from our foreign advisory service.

What means entitlement?

This is relevant in situations where a person holding a health insurance policy moves abroad for work or studies. During the period of stay abroad, the policy is effectively put on hold, and no benefits can be claimed under it. However, upon the Insured person’s return to Germany it can be re-activated. This is what ‚entitlement‘ guarantees.

The difference between a „Kleine Anwartschaft“ („small dormant solution“) and a „Große Anwartschaft“ („big dormant solution") are old age provisions which are built up during a big dormant solution. Your original entry age thereby remains the same after reactivating your old contract. Metaphorically, your health status and original entry age will be frozen with the beginning of your entitlement.

What is a deductible?

A deductible is the portion of the claimed costs which is borne by the Insured member – this can either be on an annual accumulated basis or on a per claim basis. Only the amount exceeding the deductible will be paid by the Insurer. As a result, products with a higher deductible still have lower premiums.

What is a tariff?

This term is a synonym for insurance product. Almost all BDAE tariffs start with EXPAT. The following name (e.g. FLEXIBLE or PRIVATE) then defines the certain tariff or product. Hence, if we ask you for your tariff, we mean the name of your insurance product.

Questions on premium adjustments

How often are insurance premiums adjusted?

We review the development of insurance claims annually and then make a decision on this basis as to whether an adjustment is necessary as of the respective insurance year. Unfortunately, it is simply not possible to predict whether premium adjustments will be necessary every year. There are years in which no premium adjustment was necessary - but there is no guarantee of this.

How high are the premium adjustments as a rule?

This is not predictable and always depends on the development of the insurance portfolio as well as on individual external influencing factors such as the development of medical costs. Of course, it is also our concern to keep the adjustments as low as possible.

Are there individual premium adjustments?

We do not make premium adjustments for individual policyholders.

With EXPAT INFINITY, we have developed a lifelong international health insurance in which we calculate the premiums more individually and fairly by, among other things, subdividing them according to age groups, selected scope of insurance and country of stay (zone model). Thus, there is still a community of insured persons, but if, for example, the costs for medical services in a certain region rise particularly sharply, individual insurance groups in the corresponding region may experience premium adjustments.

Premium adjustments due to increasing age are already fairly calculated with EXPAT INFINITY on the basis of regular predefined premium adjustments by age group. We are currently developing new international health insurance products, whose premiums are also calculated fairly according to more individual aspects.

Why are there premium adjustments?

In the case of the health insurance policies we offer abroad, the insurance premiums are calculated, among other things, with the policyholder community principle in mind. This means that the community of all insured persons in an insurance product bears the health risk of each individual in this group. In statutory health insurance, one also speaks of the solidarity principle. Increased costs are passed on to the "community", so to speak, in order to "cushion" the increased cost risk for each individual.

For the products of the BDAE GROUP this means that a so-called major loss, i.e. unexpectedly high health costs caused by individual insured persons, can lead to the income from insurance premiums no longer being in economic proportion to the expenditure for insurance benefits. In such a case, there is a risk of a negative loss ratio. In this case, the expenditure for health care costs would exceed the income.

Other reasons for premium adjustments are:

  • Rising costs in the global health system or in a specific region.
  • Medical progress and related costs
  • Increased life expectancy of insureds in life-long international health insurance policies
  • Increased use of medical services

Our goal is to provide long-lasting and stable products for the insured community. We check each individual insurance product every year for claims development and only adjust premiums if there is a need to do so.