What is individual continuation?

The premium for individual continuation is based on the age at the time of joining the individual insurance. It's important to know that the individual premium is usually higher than the premium you had being part of a collective policy.

The individual continuation will contain at least comparable guarantees in terms of:

• Choice of room
• Reimbursement formulas
• Presence of pre-post coverage
• Presence of 'serious illnesses' coverage

When you retire, the difference between the individual premium and the collective premium can be significant. This is partly because the collective premium is usually calculated based on the average age of all employees of your company. When you retire, your age will typically be higher than the average.

With a waiting policy, you pre-finance a part of the future premiums for your individual hospitalisation plan. You pay a monthly and uninterrupted individual premium for your waiting policy, calculated based on your age at the start of that waiting policy. When you later lose the coverage of your collective hospitalisation plan, the saved amount will be used to offer the individual hospitalisation insurance at a reduced premium, calculated based on the age you had at the beginning of your waiting policy.

• The premiums at the time of retirement will not be equal to the premiums that are applicable at the time of taking out the waiting policy. The premiums are indexed to take into account inflation.
• For illustration: over a period of 25 years, the premium will more or less double if we assume an inflation rate of 3% per year.
• Moreover, you should take into account that if the waiting policy is stopped, all premiums paid will be lost.

Currently, Alan does not offer pre-financing products. The offering on the Belgian market is limited. The mutuality Helan offers a pre-financing product called Hospitalia Continuity Waiting Policy. You can calculate the monthly premium via their website.