From September 1, health insurance providers in Switzerland will no longer be able to pester you with unwanted phone calls, the government has confirmed. Any company found to be breaking the rules faces severe fines.

Cold calling by Swiss insures to be made a criminal offence

On August 14, the Federal Council passed a new law which heavily restricts insurance providers when it comes to trying to acquire new customers. Under the new laws, calls to mobile phones or landlines made with the intent to acquire new customers, also known as “cold calling”, will be a criminal offence.

Providers of both basic and supplemental health insurance will not be allowed to contact people who have never been insured with them or haven’t been policyholders for more than three years. Providers of home, liability, legal and all other forms of private insurance will also be subject to the same ban, and any company found to be breaking the rules face a fine of 100.000 francs per case.

Cold calling ban in Switzerland 12 years in the making

While some Swiss insurance providers voluntarily forswore cold calling clients back in 2020, the new regulation will mean that all companies are subject to the rule. The Swiss government has been trying to ban the practice since 2012, but has only now garnered the parliamentary support needed to make it a reality.

The change, which will apply from the start of the next health insurance negotiation period (September 1), comes as residents brace for yet another round of premium hikes. Though the extent of the increase will not be revealed until September, price comparison site Comparis has predicted that after a 6,6 percent rise for 2023 and an 8,7 percent rise for 2024, premiums in 2025 will likely rise by a further 6 percent on average due to rising costs in Swiss healthcare.