If you’re thinking about visiting or moving to Germany, one of the things you need to consider is travel insurance. While it’s good practice to always be covered by travel insurance, in some cases, it’s an essential part of applying for your German visa. So, do you need travel insurance for Germany?
Let’s dive in and find out more.
Who needs German Travel Visa Insurance?
So, if you need to apply for any visa to visit or live in Germany, you need to get German Travel Visa Insurance. This is an essential part of your visa paperwork and your visa will get denied if you don’t include travel visa insurance.
Anyone who needs to apply for a Schengen visa needs German Travel Visa Insurance. Now, there are set countries that can travel freely until Schengen rules without having to apply for a formal Schengen visa, like US citizens, so the rules around having travel insurance don’t apply to you.
That being said, having travel insurance is always a good idea and you can get it pretty cheap now, especially if you travel a lot and get an annual plan so it’s worth considering.
If you’re from a country within the EU (European Union) or EEA (European Economic Area), or are from Switzerland, you may have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and should not need additional travel insurance where healthcare is concerned.
That being said, you might want to get some insurance cover in case of cancellations, theft, or any other issues that travel insurance also covers.
What is German Travel Visa Insurance?
Simply put, German Travel Visa Insurance is a certain level of insurance that covers a minimum of 30,000 Euros. If you’re a traveler or expat that’s heading to Germany with a visa in hand, you need to get travel insurance that covers you for this amount and that also works in all the other Schengen nations.
It’s essential for anyone applying for a German visa and needs to be factored into your initial budget.
What are the requirements for German Travel Visa Insurance?
So, when you’re looking at purchasing your German Travel Visa Insurance, there are a few criteria that you have to meet to be compliant.
- Covers at least 30,000 Euros
- Works in all Schengen nations
- Covers repatriation, death, and medical emergencies. These are normally the most expensive parts of travel medical insurance, but you have to make sure they’re included!
Of course, if you’re eligible for visa-free travel, you don’t have to get this level of travel insurance coverage, but it’s always a good idea in case the worst should happen. No one wants to have to use their insurance, but it’s still good to have it there as a secondary safety net!
How much is travel insurance in Germany?
Honestly, how much your travel insurance is going to cost and what’s included at the different premium levels depends on your provider, age, pre-existing conditions, and how much you’ve claimed before, among other things.
The main things that are going to affect your travel insurance cost are:
- Your age
- How long you’re staying in Germany
- How much coverage you need
The general rules of thumb tend to be the younger you are and the shorter your trip, the cheaper your insurance is going to be. Of course, this also depends on whether you have any pre-existing medical issues that affect your liability levels in the eyes of the insurance company.
Generally, the pricing for insurance increases around the 64-years-old mark. At this point, retirees are traveling more but they are also more likely to have health issues that might crop up while they’re abroad, leading to more claims and payouts.
For young, healthy people who are only traveling for under a month or so, you can get comprehensive coverage for as little as a Euro a day. If you need more coverage to help meet the repatriation and medical emergency limits that the German government requires, this might be slightly higher, but really it shouldn’t be more than two Euros per day for someone under 64.
If you’re over 64, the prices rise to around five Euros per day, obviously increasing if you have any pre-existing conditions that need to be taken into account. You need to disclose them because if you try and claim afterwards you’re likely going to be denied.
What’s included in travel insurance in Germany?
So, realistically, travel insurance isn’t all about medical coverage. Of course, that’s a huge part of it and probably the bit that gets used the most, but there’s also personal liability and travel accident insurance that can be included at the same time.
This means that if you get mugged when you’re on holiday, you can claim for your lost gear or money. Similarly, if there’s an accident and you need to get out of the country earlier than expected, you can use your insurance to help get you out of there ASAP and safely. This can be useful with natural disasters, outbreaks, or any attacks.
As a minimum, your travel insurance is going to include:
- Outpatient medical treatment
- Inpatient medical treatment
- Prescribed medicine
- Medical appliances and accessories, like dressing material, bandages, etc.
- Ambulance transport
- Repatriation of an ill person, including return transport
- Burial costs in extreme cases
- Emergency treatment and care within 24 hours.
- Basic dental treatment
How do I choose the right travel insurance plan for me?
Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to travel insurance. Each person is going to need something slightly different from their insurance, so you need to compare different plans. Personally, if I know that I’m traveling at least 2-3 times a year, I know it’s worth buying an annual travel insurance plan rather than paying per trip.
Some parts of the world, like the US, are more expensive to insure against, so if you need to pay to go to the US or the Caribbean, that’s likely to be the insurance cost of 2-3 trips in Europe. For example, a week in Europe might cost 8 Euros, whereas the insurance cost for a trip to the US costs an average of $42. When you consider that average annual policies cost between $50-70, it soon adds up.
Of course, if you’re applying for a German visa, you need to make sure that your travel insurance hits certain criteria, but other than that, there’s a wide array of options for you to choose from. If you’re unsure where to start, you can always check out comparison websites to see how different providers stack up.
It’s also worth checking with your home insurance or banks to see if they offer travel insurance as a perk or cheap upgrade. Many banks, like Revolut, include travel insurance on their premium levels, and home insurance with providers like Direct Line also includes travel insurance on some of their plans. So, you might already have a level of valid travel insurance without even knowing about it!
What about EHIC cards?
Okay, so I briefly mentioned European Health Insurance Cards or EHICs earlier, but let’s get into it. If you’re a resident or citizen of any EEA country, Switzerland, or some people in the UK whose cards are still in date following Brexit, you can access free or heavily subsidized healthcare when you’re traveling abroad throughout Europe.
Realistically, if you’re from one of these countries, you won’t need a visa to visit Germany anyway, so the German travel visa insurance won’t apply to you, but you’ll still have a level of coverage thanks to these little blue cards. You have to keep them on your person while you’re traveling to be eligible, otherwise, medical professionals won’t know you’re covered!
If you’re from the UK, your EHIC might still be in date or not. Thanks to Brexit it’s a bit of a lottery and many of them will expire in 2023.
Of course, EHICs only cover the medical part of travel insurance, rather than personal liability and travel accident cover. So, even if you do have access to an EHIC, you should also look into getting more travel insurance coverage to protect you from theft or other kinds of travel-related emergencies.