BARMER  Reviews 

Dont go with it guys
They are the worst people in the service, don't even replies to your emails and expected call backs are literally awful. Their commitments are also a lie. Go for someone else.
Keeping away from it will keep your mind away from stress.
I had a issue going on with them for past 20 days but surprisingly all my calls and emails were useless. They dont even know what they are saying. I have to travel to munchen which is 3 hours ride from my university to get a word from them.
Disappointed 😞

I cannot recommend them to anyone. I have been trying to cancel my subscription for six months calling them everyfew days ; every time, I am told it will be cancelled, but nothing happens because the contracts department is separate and cannot be reached.

Barmer is completely unreliable, unhelpful, and ill-equipped to deal with English customers—particularly freelancers. If you prefer your sanity, and you do not want to be overcharged, avoid at all costs.

For context:

I have spent over seven weeks trying to have my contribution rate corrected, despite Barmer having all documentation required.

In this time, I have made 12 phone calls and have sent 14 emails. I have been promised call backs 3 times, only one of which ever eventuated.

On one of my calls to the English speaking hotline, I was advised that my problem would be resolved faster if I emailed the German customer service in German.

When I complained about this, a separate Barmer consultant said that the company only has 10 people working in the specialist department in English.

Is this a "legitimate" reason for not being able to deal with English-speaking customers? I don't work in healthcare, but I reckon a better strategy would be not offering a service you do not have capacity for.

I was also told by a Barmer employee that it was great that I had been so persistent with my 12 phone calls and 14 emails, because without them I would have ended up paying the highest contribution even though Barmer had all of the information that told them otherwise. Cool! Love that for me.

If you're already with Barmer, I would advise cross-checking all of their calculations because, quite honestly, they can't do their own job – as evidenced by the above.

Anyway, after that absolute nightmare and losing days of my life to the world's worst health insurance Barmer, I am moving to TK – which is cheaper than Barmer and also has complete, functional English customer service. I'd suggest you do the same.

EDIT: Barmer, telling me to contact you directly to figure this out after spending seven weeks contacting you directly to figure this out is a laughable response. Thanks for continuing to be utterly unhelpful! I cannot wait to never deal with you again.

Barmer are absolute criminals. My partner is a freelancer who uses Barmer. They told her they would be charging her the maximum amount for health insurance (1.140) per month as they needed a form. She only made 24.000 EUR Gross all last year. It took her months to finaly speak with one person who was actually helpful. When she got her tax return and submitted it they told her they would be charging the correct amount - around 300 EUR. Today Barmer too EUR 1.140 from her bank account, essentially all of her money for the month. Now they wont help and even hung the phone up when she called. Tryuly terrible service.

It’s funny, after my negative feedback they wrote they come back to me with an answer, one more week has passed and no answer yet…..
Terrible insurance company….!

I would like to sincerely thank Ms. Kathrin Thurow for her support during my appointment at Barmer.

I came in feeling stressed and frustrated, but she welcomed me with calmness, patience, and genuine understanding. She took her time to listen carefully and explain everything clearly, which immediately made a difficult situation much easier to handle.

Even though the outcome remained the same, her kindness and professionalism truly stood out to me, and I deeply appreciate the way she treated me throughout the appointment.

Thank you very much for your support.

Horrible,
If you can, skip this one
The way they work is such a mess
I am happy that I quit and so my husband

Around a week ago I left a review here on Barmer. I want to update my situation.
After explaining my financial situation and clearly stating that I cannot pay over 1,100€ at once, BARMER still withdrawed the full amount from my account without proper agreement.
This is extremely stressful and honestly shocking. I am a student with limited income, and this kind of action puts me in a situation where I genuinely do not know how I am supposed to cover basic living expenses like rent and food.
The whole situation started because their app did not work for me for months, so I could not access important messages. Because of this, I was not aware that contributions were accumulating.
Instead of understanding this, the response has been rigid and financially aggressive.
This experience has been extremely stressful and unfair, especially for a student trying to manage studies and basic living costs.

Worst service ever. They lost 4 years' worth of my tax info, which I regularly sent them, and they charged me thousands of euros at once as if it was my fault. Their "customer service" will also laugh in your face if you have a foreign accent. They are basically bullies whose sole interest is taking your money in exchange for absolutely no service.

Avoid at all costs.

People on the phone are unhelpful and unfriendly, prices and coverage are a joke, literally not a single redeeming factor.

My experience with Barmer was depressed. I came to Germany as an international student and just because they sent me the confirmation very late so I could not get my UniCard on time, hence, I could not go to the mensa and it was so stressful. All communications took forever. I thought when I left Germany to come back to my home country, all sufferings were over but even I did exactly what the support team advised (I carefully called them twice to ask what should I do to cancel my health insurance before leaving Germany), but Barmer still charged me for the next month. I was so stressful to contact the support team as advised by email(s) but nobody answered for days. I feel so sorry but please if you can, do not use Barmer services.

Update: Barmer has responded my request and the problem was solved.

I chose Barmer as the health insurer when relocating to Germany. Altough they gave me a document and written validation that my wife would be registered as dependent via me, they did not register her and did not sent her health card. They insist on NOT responding to any of my emails either.

Prefer any other provider then them.

My short experience with Barmer was extremely frustrating. I only worked in Germany for two months before moving back abroad, and during that time they showed a surprising level of incompetence. They repeatedly wrote my date of birth incorrectly, despite being given the correct details, and sent important letters to my employer’s address instead of my home address — even though I had clearly communicated this.
If I had stayed longer in Germany, I would not have trusted Barmer with my health insurance. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend them.

I have had the worst experience with Barmer so far. Everything was alright until I changed my bank. I went to barmer personally to change my bank information and they sent me to do it over the app only I was never able to do it in the app because of technical issues. Since then I had been trying to get in contact with them through email and replying to the messages I get on the app but no answer. This has been going on for MONTHS. I have gone another time to the office personally and they made me give the new bank information only to get another notice that it was not registered AGAIN and I had to still pay. 2 days ago I recieved a message from my LANDLORD saying THEY went to HER HOUSE to ask for the MONEY. I cannot believe that they would go to this extreme while NEVER answering to me. I had to explain the whole situation to the landlord I am SO humiliated! I went again today for the third time to the office just to be told that they NEVER recieved my messages and that they had NO register that I was EVER at their office even though I showed the proof that I DID indeed tried reaching and they even QUESTIONED ME ABOUT IT. Tonight I recieved another email that they will discontinue the service if I don't pay (after "sorting it out this morning"). I don't know what else to do. Writing emails does not work going in person does not work. AND I had to deal with all of this while NO ONE was able to speak in English to me and only in German.

They will just keep piling on charges without giving an explanation. They only communicate in German. I have landed up paying for insurance to two different companies because of them.

Barmer ruined my entire life. I don’t say that lightly or to be dramatic. As a self-employed person I earned a little over the limit for family insurance and then had to backpay and entire years worth (2,5k), that affected my ability to pay my current instalment. Now I sit with zero funds every month as a single mom because I am paying 6,7K over 1 year. I have to take loans and cannot feed my child. I barely go to the doctor. My debt gets higher and my Schufa gets worse, all because of 100 euro two years ago.

My experience really bad with Barmer , I am insured with Barmer automatically when I registered in Fintiba and I was not aware that I can not terminate Barmer in 1 year. Barmer and Fintiba both did not inform me about this case. I wrote so many mails but still could not terminate membership. So currently I am not in Germany but have to pay montly contribution.

My daughter has an income of EUR 400 a month, the sum I pay her. We agreed on EUR 240 monthly health insurance. You raised to EUR 1134.00/month, which I refuse to pay. You went now to legal collection of over EUR 7500.00. Barmer keeps on avoiding discussions. Powers of attorney not supplied properly, even provided according to their own emails. Monday morning phone call discussions are ended, because they do not want to deal with this on Monday morning.
They our proud to be dealing in English, all LIMITED communication is in German. Phone calls only in German. The most disgusting bunch on the planet

Shifting to Germany as an expat can feel daunting especially because of so much paperwork. However, Barmer made health insurance feel like a breeze. They patiently answered all of my questions and even helped with specific documents for visa ahead of time. I am very grateful to Frank Regensburger for his wonderful support and patience.

Their english support is very helpful especially when you have limited knowledge of German. Would recommend Barmer to all of my friends.

The worst online platform and website. Rarely works. Terrible navigation.