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Social charges, health coverage for independents
Questions for the independents out there. Can I run this by you to make sure we've understand what we need to sign up for?
1) For social charges I've received documents from zenito and partena. The charges are legally mandated right? So does it matter which one we go with? Any opinions on either one?
2) For the medical coverage. As I understand it we have to choose a mutualité which will then reimburse for both expenses covered by social security as well as whatever 'extra' plan we take on with them. Is this right? Can we sign up for the minimum legal coverage with one and then take supplemental with another, or do you always take both coverages from the same place? The two we are looking at are mutualité chrétienne as we have children under 7, or DKV tho I find it quite expensive.
Sorry if the questions are dense, trying to get my head around it all. Have just arrived from France so bureaucracy doesn't phase me, but the system here seems to be structured quite differently and want to make sure I'm not missing the plot somewhere.
Cheers
Hi,
Just gone through all of this myself and it took a while to get my head around it all.
I went with Acerta for my social security. The services are legally mandated, the charges you pay according to earnings to but each one takes a commission and that's where the price differences come in. This is often written somewhere in the small print and I had a guy from Partena telling me it did not matter which one I signed up with as they were all the same. But Partena charges around 4,75 (do not remember the exact figure) per quarter on the fee of contributions you pay and Acerta is the cheapest in the market, around 3. something (again I do not have the exact figure at hand). But this is what you need to look out for. I find Acerta good, professional and pleasant to deal with.
On the other health insurances. You can sign up with any provider, not necessarily attached to your independent status and social securities that you pay. The basic cover, la mutuelle, covers everything but with hospital costs the share that you will have to pay for yourself is much higher. That's why it is recommended to take out an additional assurance hospitalisation. Again this can be with the same organisation as the mutuelle. So for example I have my social securities with Acerta, my mutuelle with Partena and my hospitalisation with DKV (expensive but husband's company pays and considered to be one of best in the market). In my mutuelle with Partena I also have a complementaire (extra physio etc) and dental insurance.
Hope this makes it clearer for you. Sorry for long answer, but did not find a shorter way of explaining this complex system. Good luck
