Moving to Netherlands from the UK in the not so distant future and just trying to get my head around all the legal particulars. Now started to think about health insurance for my wife and myself but I have a few questions.

Do I have to organise Health Insurance BEFORE I arrive in the netherlands? If not, how long have I legally got to organise something. I am not going over with employment, I am finding employment when I get there, so I would rather wait until I have a wage coming in until I start to pay my premiums!

Does anyone have any experiences with Health Insurers with English websites where I can generate quotes. I do speak basic dutch but I cannot trust myself yet to understand all the particulars on the policy etc.

How common is it for jobs to offer health packages as a benefit of the position?

Thanks

Try Zilverenkruis.nl/english. Zilverkruis/Achmea is a well know health insurance company in the Netherlands and it has a page of information in English. The link doesn't seem to work but if you just type Zilverenkruis Achmea (or the above) in to Google you will be able to call it up. Good luck - hope it explains what you need to know.

Just bear in mind that if you apply for Health Insurance say in July you will have to pay from January. Don't get me started why this is the case, but there you go. I also have Zilverkruis and most of their helpdesk contacts speak English. If you are lucky then the company which eventually takes you on will have a deal with a healthcare provider which means cheaper premiums, but you can't swap until the beginning of the year believe.

This may also be helpful if you come over and don't get insured for a few weeks:

http://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/Healthcareabr...careabroad.aspx

Good luck!

What happens if someone moves here during November for example & registers at that time? surely their not going to be charged from January as they wouldn't have been in the country.

'fraid so. It's a con and a rip off but that's the way the 'system' works.

I don't believe it, it's too insane.

I've been under the impression that once someone registers with the IND, then their charged from that date.

That is how it worked for me. I arrived in August, and didn't finally get my insurance finalized until September. I however did have to pay effective from the date I arrived in country - it was a prorated amount too, so I did not have to pay the entire month of August.

Now, my tennis club is a different situation. You have to pay from the beginning of the year (or when ever their fiscal year is). I paid for an additional 3 months I never used. From my understanding, many clubs are like that.

With Zilveren Kruis, they charge me from my registration date.

They charge you from the moment you are registered at city hall.
So, why don`t you find a job first, then do the papers?