Insurances
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* The Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern does not assume any liability for third-party content, such as direct or indirect links to other providers.
Two types of insurance are especially important – health insurance and liability insurance.
Please note that the Studierendenwerk is not permitted to recommend specific insurances!
Health insurance in Germany
Everyone is required to have health insurance in Germany. In order to enrol at a German university, you need to show proof that you have health insurance. Conditions, prices and coverage, however, can vary considerably.
You therefore have to choose a health insurance company for yourself. We recommend that you start getting information on the topic in good time!
There are several facts to pay attention to when finding health insurance; here's a short overview:
There are two types of health insurance in Germany – public and private insurance. Below the age of 30, public health insurance is obligatory. When enrolling at university, you'll have to provide proof that you are health insured.
More information on German health insurance and a list of all public health insurances (in German) can be found here:
www.gkv-spitzenverband.de/service/krankenkassenliste/krankenkassen.jsp.
Taking out private health insurance is only possible in exceptional cases! Please be aware of the fact that once you have private health insurance, you can no longer switch to public insurance while studying in Germany!
Here's a small brochure providing an overview of the German health system – in German and English!
European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and other countries with social security agreements
Do you already have public health insurance in your own country? And does your country have a social security agreement with Germany (e.g. European Health Insurance Card "EHIC")?
If so, you can have your insurance verified with a public health insurance in Germany. Before you come to Germany, however, please make sure to find out what documents you require to do so.
Furthermore, it could be that your insurance doesn't cover all expenses, due to the fact that costs for treatment and services vary depending on country. Make sure to find out exactly what services are fully covered; an additional insurance might be necessary.
PLEASE NOTE! A new regulation has been in force since the end of 2017–
in the following cases, EU or EEA students are required to have German health insurance:
- having a student (part-time) job (with less or more than 20 hours a week),
- starting a paid or mandatory internship,
- transferring your permanent residence to Germany.
So please be sure to get detailed information with the health insurance company in your country, especially on which health services are covered and which AREN'T – in some cases, even private health insurance may be recognized in Germany.
Health insurance under special circumstances (for international students)
Under certain circumstances, students cannot take out public health insurance.
For instance, this is the case if an enrolled student is over 30 years of age (have a look at our German blog post on the topic from 16 February 2022).
In that case, you can take out voluntary insurance with a public health insurance company. Contributions are then usually higher as would be the case if compulsorily insured.
Another option is to take out private health insurance.
In any case, inform yourself in detail about the different options available for health insurance.
As a service for people who find themselves in one of the below-mentioned situations, our national umbrella organisation “Deutsches Studierendenwerk" has developed special products in cooperation with the “UNION Versicherungsdienst GmbH”.
At www.vela.insure/en following groups of people can take out health insurance online:
- enrolled international students over the age of 30
- PhD students
- participants in language courses preparing for a course of study
- guest scholars
- accompanying unemployed family members
- job applicants after graduation
Should you have any questions regarding the different options, feel free to send an email to the “UNION Versicherungsdienst GmbH”: info@vela.insure.
The Deutsches Studierendenwerk also provides some information on the topic: http://www.internationale-studierende.de/en/during_your_studies/health_insurance/what_if_im_over_30/.
Health insurance – dictionary and links
Here you can find a small illustrated German-English dictionary on health, health insurance and visiting a doctor.
Links with further information:
www.internationale-studierende.de/en/on-arrival/health-insurance
The following websites are partly provided by commercial insurance companies or private providers. However, there is no charge for receiving information. The Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern does not benefit from providing these links; it cannot, however, assume any liability.*
www.germanyhis.com (in German and English)
www.transparent-beraten.de/versicherungen-in-deutschland/insurances-in-germany/ (in German, English, Spanish and Italian)
www.studying-in-germany.org/insurances-germany/health-insurance/
www.studying-in-germany.org/proof-of-student-health-insurance/
Portals comparing different health insurances can help you with choosing the right insurance: *
www.krankenkassen.de/krankenkassen-vergleich/ (in German)
www.studying-in-germany.org/insurances-germany/health-insurance/ (in English)
Liability insurance
Taking out liability insurance (German: “Haftpflichtversicherung”) is OPTIONAL. So you're not required to have it, but we would recommend it. A liability insurance covers the cost of damage which you cause accidentally. As it is available from roughly only 45 euros a year, we recommend taking out liability insurance as it could save you a lot of money.
For instance, if you accidentally trip and knock down somebody else’s vase, so that it breaks, and you have liability insurance, the insurance would cover the cost of having the vase repaired or replaced. If you don’t have liability insurance, you will have to pay for it yourself.
This may be bearable if it’s just a vase, but if you accidentally break a fellow student’s 2000-euro bike beyond repair, you would probably be glad to have liability insurance.
Other pages with further information on liability insurance:
TUM website: www.international.tum.de/en/global/accommodation/#c5702
Website of the University of Mannheim: www.uni-mannheim.de/en/academics/coming-to-mannheim/exchange-students/entry-and-insurance
www.finanztip.de/haftpflichtversicherung/privathaftpflicht/ *
* The Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern does not assume any liability for third-party content, such as direct or indirect links to other providers.