Health Questionnaire for Supplementary Insurance: What You Have to Declare
When taking out a supplementary insurance, insurers require a health questionnaire. Compando explains the mandatory information and the consequences of false answers.
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Contents
- Why must I answer health questions for supplementary insurance?
- Which information must I provide in the health questionnaire?
- What happens with false information in the application?
- How does a pre-existing condition affect the supplementary insurance?
- When can I take out supplementary insurance without health questionnaire?
1. Why must I answer health questions for supplementary insurance?
Unlike mandatory basic insurance, supplementary insurance is voluntary and subject to the Insurance Contract Act (VVG). This allows the insurer a health questionnaire as well as rejection or admission with policy restriction. With the application, you therefore fill out a health questionnaire (health declaration), whose answers are central for the application examination. Each case is judged individually; a rejection without reason is possible.
Good to know
You receive the health questionnaire in three ways: for download or online completion on the insurer's website, by phone or personally at an agency. The admission conditions differ between providers.
2. Which information must I provide in the health questionnaire?
For the health questionnaire, you must provide the following information:
- Age and address
- Gender, height, weight
- Consumption of cigarettes, alcohol or drugs (also in the past)
- Doctor treatments and diagnoses with period and treating person
- Pre-existing conditions
- Current complaints with therapy and treatment course
- Planned treatments such as operations or therapies
- Previous insurance with other insurers and whether an application was rejected
Important
Fill out the questionnaire personally. Have unclear diagnoses confirmed in writing by your doctor before sending. A precise diagnosis with treatment completion date is often assessed differently than a vague description ("complaints in the past").
3. What happens with false information in the application?
For supplementary insurance, a disclosure obligation applies (Art. 6 VVG). You must answer all health questions completely and truthfully.
If the insurer later finds that relevant information was concealed or falsely answered, it can adjust the contract or retroactively dissolve it. Benefits are denied in this case, even if the treatment has already taken place. Unlike with a regular termination of supplementary insurance, this contract dissolution takes place immediately and without observance of the contractual deadlines.
Compando tip
Note down before filling out all doctor visits, diagnoses and medications of the last five years. Obtain for unclear treatments the patient file. In case of a later examination by the insurance, you thus have proof that you have provided all relevant information.
4. How does a pre-existing condition affect the supplementary insurance?
Existing complaints are usually not insurable in supplementary insurance. The insurer may attach a policy restriction or grant the insurance only partially. The consequence: you pay treatments for existing complaints yourself despite supplementary insurance. Even without explicit policy restriction in the contract, the insurance refuses cost coverage for pre-existing conditions.
In risk assessment, insurers consider earlier illnesses, completed and ongoing treatments. With increasing age, the risk of a policy restriction or a rejection rises. With stable health, the admission chances increase accordingly.
Important
The insurer may not require a genetic test. However, you must indicate already known disease risks. The assessment takes place according to internal criteria and partly with additional evaluation by a medical advisor. Age and gender flow into the calculation.
5. When can I take out supplementary insurance without health questionnaire?
Under certain conditions, insurers waive the health questionnaire:
- Collective insurance: Members of a club or company are jointly insured. The entire collective receives a positive risk assessment over age, gender and other factors.
- Prenatal registration: For children, the conclusion of a supplementary insurance with the prenatal registration takes place without health questionnaire. Prerequisite is the registration shortly before or directly after birth.
- Existing customers: With minor adjustments to the insurance package, the insurer sometimes waives the health questionnaire. The conditions differ between providers.
Not every of these options is available at every insurer. A query at the insurer before the application creates clarity. When switching between providers with identical coverage, some insurers likewise waive a new health questionnaire.
Choose supplementary insurance targeted by need
Admission conditions and benefits differ between providers. Compare the supplementary insurance by your personal requirements. This way you find the suitable product.
Published on 1 March 2026, last updated 22 June 2026. Author: Compando Editorial Team.
