Social insurance premium arrears time-barred after three years

ATA/507/1997Court of Justice / Administrative ChamberAug 26, 1997

Extracted by Omnilex

Omnilex summary

The court held that a health insurer's claim for unpaid premiums is subject to a three-year extinction period by analogy to Art. 16(2) AVS. The period starts at the end of the calendar year in which the insurer demanded payment from the insured. On that basis, the insurer's claim had lapsed.

Omnilex headnote

LAMA; prescription/peremption of premiums arrears; analogy to Art. 16 al. 2 LAVS. The limitation rules governing AVS claims apply by analogy in compulsory health insurance. The insurer's right to recover outstanding premiums is extinguished three years after the end of the calendar year in which it asserted payment against the insured; the claim is then perempted, irrespective of later enforcement steps. This solution follows the need for uniform treatment of social-insurance receivables and the protective function of a relatively short extinction period (cf. ATF 119 V 298).

Full text

Descripteurs

ASSURANCE SOCIALE; AM; PRIME D'ASSURANCE; PEREMPTION; ASSU

Normes

LAMA X; LAMA.1 ss

Résumé

Péremption pour trois ans du droit de la caisse-maladie de réclamer le paiement de cotisations arriérées. Analogie avec l'art. 16 al. 2 LAVS. Les dispositions sur la prescription prévues dans la LAVS sont applicables au domaine de la LAMA (ATF 119 V 298). En l'espèce, la créance de l'assureur s'est périmée trois ans après la fin de l'année civile au cours de laquelle celui-ci a requis de l'assuré le paiement de cotisations.

Keywords

social insurancehealth insurancepremium arrearsperemptionlimitation periodanalogy

Extracted by Omnilex

Key legal questions extracted by Omnilex

Key legal question

Whether the health insurer's claim for arrears of premiums was time-barred after three years.

Extracted holding

The insurer's claim became extinguished three years after the end of the calendar year in which it demanded payment from the insured.

Extracted reasoning

The limitation rules of the AVS apply by analogy in the health insurance area; the right to recover outstanding premiums is therefore subject to a three-year period.

Social insurance premium arrears time-barred after three yearsAI generated