Are you going abroad to study? Or are you daydreaming about being a college student in your preferred destination abroad?
In both cases, you should strongly consider to get a travel insurance. Travel insurance gives you the peace of mind that enables you to have the experience of a lifetime.
Although accidents and illness are probably hardly something you think about when planning your trip abroad, you also know that accidents unfortunately happen and are inevitable. In contrast to living in the EU, it can be quite expensive and problematic to have an accident abroad, because the European healthcare system is well financed.
For example, if you have to travel to the USA and you have an accident, you can easily be set back several years financially if you do not have travel insurance to cover your US hospital expenses.
For that reason, certain universities will also require that you have taken out health insurance in order to participate in the study activities.
If you are in doubt about what your host university requires and how expensive it can potentially be to get sick in the destination country, you are always welcome to contact Uniclub. We are available with free advice so you can have peace of mind.
As mentioned, some universities will require you to have health insurance. A health insurance covers you in the event of illness, hospitalization and subsidies for medicine. The mentioned are the elements typically covered
Travel insurance covers you in the same way as health insurance, but covers you in even more areas at the same time. For example, it can be against theft, transport home in case of serious illness, where you have to be treated in a hospital in your home country and if a family member becomes seriously ill, the insurance will also cover your ticket home so that you can take care of your family.
In addition, travel insurance can also cover:
● Urgent treatment by a physiotherapist, chiropractor or dentist
● Ruined holiday days
● Psychological crisis help
● Search and rescue etc.
A travel insurance covers all of the worst possible situations, whereas a health insurance "only" covers a small part of them.
There is therefore far more security in taking out travel insurance compared to health insurance. If security is important to you in relation to getting the full experience out of your stay abroad, getting a travel insurance is certainly to be considered.
If you travel within the borders of the EU, the blue health insurance card gets you the same help that other citizens in the country receive. This means that you get the same treatment - but also that you have to pay the same co-payment if the country uses it in their healthcare system. Several EU countries have partial or full self-payment for their treatments.
It is therefore very important that you do not think that you are covered with the blue health insurance card. You can advantageously check your destination country for their payment rules for hospital treatment, and compare this information with the terms of travel insurance.
Travel insurance for students is relatively cheap compared to the cover you receive. However, the price of travel insurance will vary greatly from company to company, just as the terms of the agreement will also vary.
The price also depends on your destination country and the duration of your trip. We can recommend Europaeiske ERV as an insurance provider from students' previous good experiences.
Are you a member of a union? Then you should also check whether you can take out cheap travel insurance through the union. Several associations offer their members attractive student prices on travel insurance.
If you find that the prices of travel insurance exceed your planned budget, you can include insurance as an expense in your budget when you apply for scholarships.
Read our guide on how to apply for scholarships right here.
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