BIG Insurance Brokers Health

What BIG Insurance Brokers Health is

BIG Insurance Brokers Health is an independent insurance broker with more than 20 years of experience serving people who are relocating, working, or studying abroad. Based in Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino, the firm specializes specifically in international health insurance for expats, arrivals, and anyone whose life spans multiple countries. Unlike an insurance company that sells only its own products, BIG accesses a wide variety of international health insurance plans from multiple insurers and presents recommendations tailored to each person's circumstances.

The company carries a 4.8 out of 5 rating verified by Trustindex as of 2026, based on reviews collected from Google over the previous 12 months. This rating is a third-party attestation of customer satisfaction, though it does not detail what customers are evaluating, service speed, claim handling, plan quality, or overall experience.

Services for arrivals and expats

BIG's website emphasizes a four-step process designed to ease arrivals into insurance: first, you share details about yourself, your family, and your needs; second, you select which benefits matter most to you; third, BIG presents plans from leading insurers that match your profile and budget; fourth, BIG manages the insurer's paperwork so you can enroll smoothly.

The firm positions international health insurance as essential for anyone moving to Switzerland from abroad, arguing that it provides peace of mind for unexpected medical expenses and gives access to specialists without requiring a referral from a general practitioner. Whether this means BIG addresses the Swiss mandatory health insurance requirement specifically, or whether they focus primarily on supplementary or private international plans, is not clearly stated on the pages provided.

BIG emphasizes independence in its marketing. As a broker with access to multiple plans from multiple insurers, the firm states it can offer "impartial guidance" without pushing products from a single company. The company also promises "lifetime support", meaning that service continues after enrollment, not just during the sales process.

Plan options and coverage details

BIG presents four tiers of international health insurance: Major Medical, Select, Premier, and Elite. Each plan specifies an annual limit, the maximum the insurer will pay across all benefits in a given year. Major Medical carries a GBP 2,000,000 annual limit. Select has a GBP 1,000,000 limit. Premier caps out at GBP 1,500,000. Elite offers the highest coverage at GBP 3,000,000 annually.

Coverage areas vary by plan. All tiers offer basic "Worldwide" coverage, with options to exclude the United States or (in higher tiers) to exclude Europe as well. This flexibility allows you to tailor geographic coverage to your expected movements.

Shared benefits across all four plans include private hospital accommodation, inpatient care, mental health treatment, cancer care, and medical evacuation and repatriation. This last benefit is significant: if you need treatment that is not available in Switzerland, the insurer will cover the cost of transporting you to the nearest suitable facility, or repatriating you to your home country to receive treatment in familiar surroundings.

Higher-tier plans add benefits progressively. Select and Premier add health screening, physiotherapy, osteopathy, and chiropractic treatment. Premier and Elite add optical and dental coverage. Elite alone includes maternity and fertility treatment coverage. The website does not specify whether these upgrades carry additional out-of-pocket costs, annual limits within the total benefit, or exclusions.

Multilingual support and contact

BIG operates with multilingual staff, listing two named contacts. Sean handles Italian and English inquiries. Julien handles French, Spanish, and English. Both are reachable by phone, WhatsApp, or the email address info@big-brokers-health.com. This language coverage is broader than many Swiss insurers offer, suggesting the firm is accustomed to working with clients from diverse backgrounds. The use of WhatsApp as a communication channel also suggests flexibility in how clients connect with the firm.

The company's physical address is Corso Elvezia 10 in Lugano, which is in the southern tip of Switzerland on the Italian border. This location might make in-person meetings difficult for someone relocating to central or northern Switzerland, though the multilingual phone and email support suggests most interactions happen remotely. For someone moving to Switzerland's French or German regions, working with a Ticino-based firm requires a comfort level with remote consultations and asynchronous communication via email.

What the website does not clarify

The site does not publish premium rates or examples of what coverage costs. This is typical for brokers who tailor plans to individual circumstances, but it means you cannot budget without requesting a quote. The site also does not specify whether BIG can assist with Switzerland's mandatory basic health insurance requirement or whether they focus exclusively on supplementary international plans.

Another key gap is the underwriting and enrollment timeline. The site does not explain how long the process takes from initial consultation to coverage beginning, whether coverage can be backdated to your arrival date, or what documentation BIG will request. Someone arriving in Switzerland with a chronic illness or ongoing prescriptions would need to contact the firm to understand whether they can be covered and under what terms.

The website also does not describe what happens if you need to make a claim, how long reimbursement takes, or what disputes are possible after enrollment. The emphasis on "lifetime support" is reassuring but vague.

Who BIG suits and who doesn't

BIG is ideal if you are relocating to Switzerland and speak one of the five languages the firm covers (Italian, French, Spanish, or English), have a family, and want an independent broker to compare plans rather than dealing with individual insurers. The 20-year track record and multilingual team suggest experience with the complexities of moving between countries.

BIG is less suitable if you need to complete insurance enrollment remotely before arriving in Switzerland and want everything arranged by email or phone in advance. The lack of published pricing and enrollment timelines makes it harder to know whether you can finalize everything from abroad. Additionally, if you live far from Lugano and prefer in-person meetings to phone consultations, or if you need support in a language the firm does not cover, you would need to look elsewhere. Finally, if you want to browse and choose insurance independently without a consultation, BIG's broker model, which centers on dialogue with advisors, requires that conversation.