Insurance Contract Act (ICA)

What is the Insurance Contract Act (ICA)?

The ICA is the Federal Act on Insurance Contracts, known in English as the Insurance Contract Act and in German as the VVG. It dates from 2 April 1908 and has the number SR 221.229.1. The act governs the rights and obligations between you and a private insurance company, i.e. the contract itself: application, information, duty of disclosure, premium, benefits and termination. It applies to many private insurance policies, such as household contents, liability or life insurance. A major revision has been in force since 01.01.2022; among other things, it introduced the right of revocation and the right of ordinary termination.

In health insurance, the ICA is the counterpart to the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG). Compulsory basic health insurance is a social insurance under the KVG. Anything beyond that is voluntary supplementary insurance under the ICA. Art. 2 para. 2 of the Health Insurance Supervision Act (KVAG) states this explicitly: health insurers may offer supplementary insurance alongside basic insurance, but it is subject to the ICA. Typical examples are hospital insurance for the semi-private or private ward, supplementary outpatient insurance for glasses, complementary medicine or medicines not covered by basic insurance, dental insurance and travel insurance.

Why the difference matters so much

The KVG is based on solidarity: every insurer must accept you, benefits are the same, and the premium does not depend on your health. The ICA is based on freedom of contract. The insurer may ask about your health, exclude individual illnesses with a reservation or reject the application altogether. Benefits and premiums are set out in the product’s general terms and conditions (GTC). Premiums may vary by age at entry, sex and region.

	Basic insurance (KVG)	Supplementary insurance (ICA)
Requirement	compulsory for everyone resident in Switzerland	voluntary
Acceptance	insurer must accept you, no health questions	health questions, reservations, rejection possible
Benefits	set by law, the same at every insurer	set by contract, differ by product
Premium	the same for region, age group, deductible, model	by age, sex, region, product
Premium supervision	FOPH	FINMA
Cancellation	statutory deadlines under Art. 7 KVG	as per contract and Art. 35a ICA

How it works

An ICA contract is formed by application and acceptance. You submit an application, usually on a form with a health questionnaire. You are bound by this application for 14 days, or four weeks if a medical examination is required (Art. 1 ICA). The insurer reviews the application and accepts it, with or without a reservation, or rejects it.

Duty to inform: before the contract is concluded, the insurer must inform you clearly and in text form about its identity and the essential content: insured risks, scope of cover, premiums, term and termination, data processing and your right of revocation (Art. 3 ICA). If it breaches this duty, you can terminate the contract (Art. 3a ICA).

Right of revocation: you can revoke your application or your declaration of acceptance within 14 days, in writing or in another form that provides proof in text, so email also works (Art. 2a ICA). The deadline is met if you send the revocation on the last day.

Duty of disclosure: you must truthfully answer all the insurer’s questions about significant risk factors, insofar as you know them or ought to know them (Art. 4 ICA). Anything specifically asked is considered significant. If you answer a question incorrectly or conceal something, the insurer may terminate the contract within four weeks of finding out. It is released from paying for claims already incurred that are connected with the concealed fact, and it can reclaim benefits already paid (Art. 6 ICA).

Term and termination: any contract can be terminated at the end of the third or any subsequent year with three months’ notice, even if a longer term was agreed (Art. 35a para. 1 ICA). In supplementary health insurance, this right of ordinary termination and the right to terminate after a claim belong only to the policyholder, not to the insurer (Art. 35a para. 4 ICA). Either party can terminate for good cause at any time (Art. 35b ICA). Many GTC also provide a right to cancel after a premium increase; there is no general statutory right to do so, and the GTC apply.

Supervision: the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) supervises insurers under the Insurance Supervision Act (ISA). The rates and GTC of supplementary health insurance require approval (Art. 4 para. 2 let. r ISA). FINMA checks whether the premiums ensure solvency and protect insured persons from abuse (Art. 38 ISA). However, it does not publish the rates.

Legal basis

The governing law is the Federal Act on Insurance Contracts (ICA). For supplementary health insurance, these provisions matter most:

• Art. 1 ICA: you are bound by your application for 14 days, or four weeks if a medical examination is required.
• Art. 2a ICA: right of revocation of 14 days from the application or acceptance, in writing or in text form.
• Art. 3 and 3a ICA: the insurer’s duty to inform before the contract is concluded, and a right to terminate if it is breached; this lapses four weeks after you find out, and at the latest two years after the breach.
• Art. 4 and 6 ICA: duty of disclosure for the health questions and the insurer’s right to terminate within four weeks of learning of a breach.
• Art. 35a ICA: ordinary termination at the end of the third or any subsequent year with three months’ notice; under para. 4, in supplementary health insurance only for the policyholder.
• Art. 35b ICA: extraordinary termination for good cause, at any time.
• Art. 35c ICA: clauses allowing an insurer to unilaterally limit or cancel ongoing periodic benefits after termination are void.
• Art. 46 ICA: claims under the contract become time-barred five years after the occurrence of the fact giving rise to the obligation to pay.

Many of these rules are semi-mandatory: under Art. 98 ICA, they may not be changed to your disadvantage; these include Art. 1–3a, Art. 6 and Art. 35a. The assignment of supplementary insurance to the ICA follows from Art. 2 para. 2 KVAG. Supervision of rates and GTC is governed by Art. 4 para. 2 let. r and Art. 38 ISA. Art. 7 para. 7 and 8 KVG states that your current insurer may neither force you to keep supplementary insurance nor cancel it because you switch basic insurance.

Example: deadlines for a new supplementary hospital insurance

Sandra is 29 and signs an application for supplementary hospital insurance for the semi-private ward on 02.03.2026. The contract starts on 01.04.2026, and the GTC do not provide for a shorter minimum term. These dates apply to her:

If Sandra switches basic insurance for 2027, her supplementary hospital insurance is unaffected. She compares basic insurance premiums in her municipality in the premium calculator and supplementary insurance in the benefits comparison.

What this means for you

Treat supplementary insurance like any other long-term contract:

1. Read the GTC before you sign. Benefits, retention fees, waiting periods, age bands and termination rules are set out there, not in the law.
2. Answer health questions in full. If in doubt, disclose more rather than less. A concealed treatment can cost you your cover years later.
3. Think of basic and supplementary insurance separately. You can switch basic insurance every year without putting your supplementary insurance at risk. Switching supplementary insurance, on the other hand, is tricky because the new insurer will ask health questions again. Only cancel the old policy once the new one has been accepted in writing.
4. Use the revocation period. If you signed something on the phone or at a stand, you can revoke it within 14 days.
5. Check the insurers. Key figures on providers are under health insurers; the Office of the health insurance ombudsperson helps in disputes with your insurer.

If you have questions about choosing supplementary insurance, you can request advice; the operator of this website is registered with FINMA as an untied insurance intermediary, and you will find the details under disclosure.

Common mistakes

• Cancelling supplementary insurance too early. If you cancel the old policy before the new one has been accepted without a reservation, you risk being left without cover.
• Answering health questions “generously”. A wrong answer is not a minor slip but grounds for termination with loss of benefits.
• Believing the insurer has to accept you. The obligation to accept applicants only applies to basic insurance.
• Letting the revocation period pass. After 14 days, you are bound until the end of the third year, unless the GTC provide otherwise.
• Assuming a statutory right to cancel after a premium increase. The ICA has no such right; whether you can cancel after an increase depends on the GTC.