Gothaer has developed special policies for this segment. The difference between individual health insurance contracts is that the evidence of insurability is less restrictive and the premiums lower. “We believe that we have spread the risks adequately,” Mr Kurtenbach said.

Insurer Axa began offering special policies for corporate clients in 2010. “As an important corporate insurer we have to be able to have special offers in our portfolio,” said Michael Haas, who is responsible for the company’s health insurance segment.

Cologne-based Deutsche Krankenversicherung (DKV) is rearranging the private health cover it offers to expatriates. The decision has made the private health insurer rather unpopular with corporate clients in recent weeks. Until now, Germany’s largest health insurer provided health cover for around 14,000 employees from 150 companies outside of Germany.

But it has cancelled many of these policies, a spokesperson for the company confirmed. DKV belongs to Ergo and therefore also to the world's largest reinsurer Munich Re.

The customers affected by the cancellation are obviously upset by this decision. A manager, who preferred to remain anonymous, commented: "This has left many people puzzled and dissatisfied."

Munich Re will continue to offer these contracts in future, but via DKV Globality Luxembourg, which belongs to Munich-based Munich Health that is expanding at the expense of the Cologne-based company.

The move is part of the attempts by Nikolaus von Bomhard, Munich Re's Chief Executive, to make healthcare a third segment for the group, in addition to reinsurance and primary insurance. Munich Re runs hospitals in Spain, private health schemes in the Arab world and has acquired a number of healthcare-related businesses in the US.

Please sign up here to our full-time mailing list to ensure that you receive our weekly newsletter.