Medical aid cancellation letter: free template and how to send it

Use it when you are resigning from a medical scheme, moving to another scheme, or moving onto a spouse's cover. It is written by the main member. If only a dependant is leaving, use the add or remove a dependant letter instead.

Restricted schemes are for the employees of a particular employer group, profession, industry, association or union, while open schemes accept anyone. If your membership is tied to your job, ask the scheme what happens to your cover when the job ends.

The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) tells members to finalise switching decisions by late November or early December during Open Season. The guide to changing medical aid covers the switching order.

Replace every [placeholder]. Delete any line that does not apply.

[Your full name]
[ID number]
[Membership number]
[Cellphone] | [Email]
[Date]

To: The Membership Department
[Scheme name]
[Scheme email address or postal address]

Subject: Cancellation of membership - membership number [MEMBERSHIP NUMBER]

Dear Sir or Madam

I give notice that I am cancelling my membership of [SCHEME NAME], membership number [MEMBERSHIP NUMBER], including the following dependants:
[MAIN MEMBER: FULL NAME AND ID NUMBER]
[DEPENDANT 1: FULL NAME AND ID NUMBER]
[DEPENDANT 2: FULL NAME AND ID NUMBER]

Please cancel my membership with effect from [LAST DAY OF COVER]. If the scheme rules require a different date, please tell me which date applies and which rule says so.

Please confirm in writing:
1. The date my cover and my contributions end.
2. Whether any amount is owing by me or to me, and how my medical savings balance (if I have one) will be dealt with.
3. That you will issue a membership certificate showing my cover start date, my end date and any waiting periods I have already served.

Please stop my debit order only after the final contribution that is due. Please send your confirmation to [EMAIL ADDRESS].

Yours faithfully
[Full name]
[Signature]
[Date]

• A clear copy of your ID, because some schemes ask for it to confirm who is cancelling.
• Your membership number on every page.
• A signed copy, if the scheme insists on its own cancellation form as well as your letter. Ask which one it accepts.

The membership certificate you ask for in the letter is the paper your next scheme uses to see how long you were covered.

• Email it from your own address to the membership or client services address on the scheme's website or on your latest statement. Phone first if you are not sure you have the right address.
• Save the sent email with its date and time, and ask for a reference number.
• If you use the member portal, screenshot the confirmation screen.
• If you post it, use registered post and keep the slip.
• After any phone call, note the name, date and reference number.

If a dispute about the end date comes up later, this paper trail is your evidence of when you gave notice.

The scheme should reply in writing with your end date and any amount owing. We found no national timeline for that reply, so if a week or two passes with nothing, follow up in writing and quote your reference number.

Cancel the debit order with your bank only once the final contribution has been taken, or as the scheme tells you. Stopping it too early can leave you in arrears on cover you still have.

If the scheme delays or disputes your end date, use the complaint letter. The CMS expects you to use the scheme's own complaints process first, and its Customer Care Centre is on 0861 123 267 for advice. The CMS complaints guide explains the steps.

The law lets a scheme impose up to three months of general waiting and up to 12 months of condition-specific waiting on someone who was not on a scheme for at least 90 days before applying. Shorter gaps can still carry one of the two, and these are maximums: a scheme may impose less or none. There is no waiting period at all when the gap is under 90 days and you must move because you changed jobs or your employer changed or ended its scheme, and none when you move between options in the same scheme. See the waiting periods guide.

A late joiner is an applicant or adult dependant aged 35 or older, except someone covered continuously since before 1 April 2001. The penalty depends on years without cover: up to 5% of the contribution for 1 to 4 years, 25% for 5 to 14 years, 50% for 15 to 24 years and 75% for 25 or more. It applies only to that person's portion of the contribution.

Worked example: a 45-year-old with no proof of past cover gets A = 45 - 35 = 10, the 5 to 14 year band, so up to 25%. With 6 years of proven cover, A = 45 - (35 + 6) = 4, the 1 to 4 year band, so up to 5%. That is why the certificate matters. Penalties can follow you to a new scheme. More in the late joiner penalty guide.

• Cancelling before the new scheme has confirmed cover in writing, and creating a gap.
• Guessing the end date instead of checking the notice rule.
• Relying on a phone call with no written notice.
• Not asking for the membership certificate.
• Forgetting your savings balance. Ask what happens to it, and see the savings account refund letter.
• Cancelling the debit order before the final contribution is taken.