What insurance do I need after university in Germany?

In short

What insurance do I need after university in Germany? First new health insurance: student cover ends with the semester in which you de-register (Exmatrikulation). Without a job you pay about EUR 260 to 280 a month as a voluntary member; under 23 without work, family insurance through your parents often helps. Your parents' liability cover usually ends too; your own costs about EUR 4 to 10 a month.

Request a quote +49 3375 29 12 77

What it costs

What may be added after university in Germany, figures for 2026.

Example	Typical range
Voluntary health insurance without income, minimum base EUR 1,318.33	about EUR 260 to 280 a month including long term care
Family insurance through parents, under 23 and not working	EUR 0 with income up to EUR 565 a month
Own personal liability, single tariff	about EUR 4 to 10 a month
Own contents insurance for a small flat	from about EUR 25 a year

Figures for 2026 from the reference values and published tariff examples.

The minimum contribution depends on your fund's additional rate and the long term care surcharge

for the childless.

The worked example is a guide value from quoting practice.

Norman Nammert obtains quotes for liability, contents and disability cover as an insurance broker.

Worked example

Graduate, 26, de-registered in March, job from August

How she bridges the months between university and her first job.

Student health insurance	runs until 31 March, end of the winter semester
April to July: voluntary membership without income	about EUR 260 to 280 a month
Own personal liability from April	about EUR 5 a month
Own contents for the 35 square metre flat	about EUR 3 a month

Four months of transition cost around EUR 1,070 to 1,150, almost all for health insurance. From August she pays her share through her salary.

What ends after university and when

Several forms of cover you did not pay for yourself as a student end with your degree. If you do not replace them, there are gaps between graduation and your first job. This page is about exactly that transition; what is added in your first job is on the page about starting your career.

The table shows what ends after university and what replaces it.

Insurance	Ends	After that
Student health insurance	with the semester of de-registration	job, family insurance or voluntary membership
Parents' personal liability	usually at the end of the first education	your own personal liability
Parents' contents cover for your student flat	at the latest when you set up your own household	your own contents insurance
Statutory accident insurance during studies	with your studies	again through the employer in a job
Disability insurance from your student days	continues	adjust the pension to your income

Health insurance after university

Under section 190(9) SGB V, membership as a compulsorily insured student ends at the end of the semester in which you are de-registered, at the latest with the semester in which you turn 30. If you enrol straight into a master's degree, you remain a student.

If you then start a job, you are compulsorily insured through your employer. If you are still looking, the fund continues you as a voluntary member under section 188(4) SGB V. Without income this costs about EUR 260 to 280 a month, much more than the student rate.

It is cheaper only in two cases: if you are under 23 and not working, you can be family insured through your parents (section 10(2) SGB V). If you receive basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld, called Bürgergeld until 30 June 2026), you are compulsorily insured through it. Graduates rarely receive unemployment benefit, because it requires 12 months of insured work in the last 30 months.

Liability: when your parents' cover ends

Your parents' personal liability usually covers unmarried children during their first education, including university. With the degree this ends in many policies. Some tariffs extend cover for a while, for example during unemployment or until a master's degree; this is in your parents' terms.

Your own personal liability costs about EUR 4 to 10 a month. Let it start the day after your parents' cover ends so that no day is left uncovered.

Contents: the student flat becomes your own flat

Under the model terms, your parents' contents insurance also covers belongings of a child living elsewhere for education, as long as the child does not set up its own household. After university the reason education no longer applies.

If you stay in your flat or move for the job, you need your own contents insurance, for a small flat often from about EUR 25 a year. If you move back in with your parents for a while, your things are covered there again by their policy.

Disability cover: from university into work

If you took out disability insurance (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung) as a student, it continues. The pension often matches a student budget, not a starting salary. Many contracts allow an increase without new health questions when you start work, if you apply within the period stated in the contract.

If you do not have one yet, the time after university is a good moment: you are usually young and healthy, and your future job is clear.

What you don't need yet after university

You only need term life insurance once someone depends on your income or a loan needs securing. Long term pension contracts are better signed once your salary is known.

Supplementary dental or hospital cover can also wait. In the transition after university what matters most is that health insurance and liability run without a gap.

Step by step

Fix your de-registration date and note the end of the semester as the key date.
Ask your health fund how things continue from that date: job, family insurance or voluntary.
For voluntary insurance, fill in the income questionnaire straight away.
Check in your parents' liability terms when cover ends for you and start your own policy.
With your own flat, take out contents insurance.
Adjust existing disability insurance to your salary.

Checklist

Health insurance from the end of the semester clarified
Fund's income questionnaire returned
Own personal liability without a gap
Contents for your own flat
Disability cover checked or adjusted
Enrolment certificates kept for later evidence

Common mistakes

Thinking student insurance continues until your first salary
Not answering the income questionnaire and paying the maximum contribution
Relying on your parents' liability although it ends with the degree
Missing the increase of your disability pension when starting work

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

How long am I insured as a student after university?

Until the end of the semester in which you are de-registered.

After that you need other cover.

Can I be insured through my parents again after university?

Yes, if you are under 23, not working and earn at most EUR 565 a month.

From 23 this is no longer possible without education.

What does health insurance cost after university without a job?

As a voluntary member without income about EUR 260 to 280 a month including long term care,

depending on the additional rate.

Am I covered by my parents' liability while job hunting?

That depends on your parents' tariff.

Some extend cover during unemployment after education, many end it with the degree.

Will I get unemployment benefit after university?

Usually not, because you need 12 months of insured work in the last 30 months.

Student jobs do not count, as students are exempt from unemployment insurance under section 27(4)

SGB III.

Do I stay a student between bachelor and master?

If you enrol straight into the master's, yes.

If there is a gap with de-registration, student insurance ends with the semester.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request a quote

We compare insurers and come back to you, in English.

Free; the insurer pays our fee.

1Who is it for?

Personal My company

2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

Please review all my existing policies

3Details

4Your current policy

Current insurer Policy ends on What matters more to you?

5How can we reach you?

Name * Email * Phone Postcode Town Preferred contact Anything else we should know