# Travel insurance when you live in Germany: travel health first, the rest if needed > German insurers sell up to six different travel policies, but only one is essential: Auslandsreisekrankenversicherung, travel health insurance. Statutory health insurance pays only partly abroad and never for a flight home. For expats there are two extra questions: are trips to your home country covered, and how do you insure parents who come to visit? Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-travel-insurance.php Updated: 2026-09-18 ## Which travel insurance do I need if I live in Germany? An annual travel health policy covering all holidays and short trips abroad. It pays doctors, hospital and a medically reasonable repatriation flight to Germany, which statutory insurance never covers. It is cheap, usually a few euros a month or less. Cancellation cover is worth adding if you book expensive trips well ahead. Luggage and travel accident policies are usually redundant if you have contents and accident insurance. Check how the policy treats trips to your country of citizenship. ## At a glance - **Mandatory?:** No for residents, but visitors often need it for a Schengen visa - **Core policy:** annual travel health insurance with repatriation - **Guide price annual policy:** single around EUR 10 to 30, family around EUR 25 to 60 a year - **Trip length:** annual policies usually cover trips of 6 to 8 weeks each - **Home country trips:** some policies exclude or limit trips to your country of citizenship ## What statutory health insurance covers abroad If you are in the German statutory system, your health card carries the European Health Insurance Card on the back. In the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and some treaty countries it gives you the treatment a local would receive, on local terms. That can mean co-payments and public clinics only, and private doctors in tourist areas often do not accept it at all. Outside those countries the statutory fund generally pays nothing. It never pays for repatriation, not even from a neighbouring country. Private health insurance in Germany usually covers treatment worldwide for a limited time, but not always repatriation, so it is worth checking too. ## Trips home and visitors from home Many expats travel mainly to their country of origin. Some German travel health policies exclude trips to a country where you hold citizenship or have a second residence, others cover them with restrictions. If you fly home several times a year, read that clause before you buy. Parents or friends visiting you from outside the EU need their own cover, and for a Schengen visa it must include medical costs of at least EUR 30,000 and repatriation. German insurers call this Incoming-Versicherung. Your own policy does not cover them. ## Cancellation cover: what counts as a reason Reiserücktrittsversicherung reimburses cancellation fees if you cannot travel for an insured reason: sudden serious illness, an accident, death of a close relative, job loss, often pregnancy. Changing your mind or bad weather at the destination does not count. Many policies deduct 20 percent of the claim for cancellations due to illness, and all expect you to cancel as soon as it is clear you cannot go. Cancel late and you are reimbursed only the fee that would have applied earlier. Package holidays in Germany are protected against the tour operator's insolvency, mostly through the German travel guarantee fund, but that has nothing to do with cancellation cover. ## What is covered - Outpatient and inpatient treatment abroad, without a sum limit in good policies - Medically reasonable repatriation to Germany - Medicines and emergency dental treatment - Search, rescue and recovery costs up to a limit - Repatriation of remains - Cancellation fees for an insured reason - Extra travel costs and unused services when a trip is cut short - 24-hour emergency assistance line ## What is not covered - Treatment that was the reason for the trip - Pre-existing conditions needing treatment before departure, depending on the policy - Trips longer than the maximum length per trip - Trips to your country of citizenship, in some policies - Cancellation without an insured reason - War and civil unrest, unless included ## Who needs it - Everyone in German statutory health insurance who travels abroad, including within the EU - Privately insured people whose policy limits repatriation - Families booking expensive holidays months ahead - Expats hosting visitors from outside the EU, who need incoming cover ## Who can do without - Luggage insurance if your contents policy includes cover outside the home - Travel liability and travel accident policies if you already have personal liability and accident insurance ## What it costs Annual travel health insurance is among the cheapest policies in Germany. Costs rise with age, with worldwide cover including the USA and with cancellation cover, which is priced on the trip cost. | Example | Typical range | | --- | --- | | Annual travel health, single under 65 | around EUR 10 to 30 a year | | Annual travel health, family | around EUR 25 to 60 a year | **What drives the premium:** - Age, especially from 65 or 70 - Single or family policy - Europe or worldwide, with or without USA and Canada - Maximum length per trip - Cancellation: trip price and deductible - Single trip or annual policy _Guide figures from published German comparisons including Finanztest, as of 2026. Older travellers and cancellation cover cost considerably more. Your premium is only fixed in the quote._ ## The policy levels on the market - **Travel health only:** Annual policy for any number of trips up to six or eight weeks each. Enough for most people. - **Health plus cancellation:** Adds cancellation and trip curtailment, either annually up to a trip price or as a single policy for one expensive booking. - **Full package:** Health, cancellation, curtailment, luggage and assistance. Convenient, but often duplicates cover you already have. ## How to recognise a good policy | Criterion | Minimum standard | Strong policy | Why it matters | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Repatriation | when medically necessary | when medically reasonable | Necessary almost never applies, reasonable often does. | | Sum insured | high cap | no cap | Intensive care in the USA exhausts any fixed amount. | | Home country | excluded | covered like any other destination | For expats this is often the most frequent destination. | | Trip length | six weeks | eight weeks or more, extendable | Exceeding the limit can void cover for the whole trip. | | Pre-existing conditions | excluded | covered for unexpected worsening | Matters for anyone with a chronic condition. | | Cancellation reasons | illness, accident, death | also job loss, pregnancy, exams, pandemic-related illness | The list of reasons is the actual product. | | Assistance | reimbursement against invoices | 24-hour line, English-speaking, direct payment to hospitals | Abroad you want someone else to pay the hospital. | ## Insurers on the German market Travel insurance in Germany comes from specialist travel insurers, health insurers and automobile clubs. This list is a market overview. - **ERGO Reiseversicherung**: travel specialist of the ERGO group, formerly Europäische Reiseversicherung - **HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung**: travel company of the HanseMerkur group, sold via travel agents, brokers and online - **Union Reiseversicherung**: part of the Versicherungskammer group, also sold through savings banks - **Würzburger**: specialist insurer, often behind intermediary brands - **ADAC**: insurer of the automobile club, travel health for members and non-members - **DKV**: health insurer of the ERGO group - **Allianz**: travel health via agents and brokers - **HUK-COBURG**: travel health, own sales force, does not work with brokers 140 insurers supervised by BaFin, the German regulator, are licensed for this class of insurance. (Beistandsleistungen auf Reisen, Krankheit, Kostenversicherung). Source: BaFin company database, retrieved 2026-09-18. Insurers from other EU countries selling through a branch or without a German office are not included. ## Typical claims and who pays - **Visiting father has a heart attack** (easily five figures in a German hospital): Incoming policies for visitors usually exclude known conditions. Better ones pay for an unexpected acute worsening, often up to a lower limit. - **ER visit on a trip home to Chicago** (easily five figures): Some German travel policies exclude your country of citizenship. Strong ones treat home like any other destination, the US included. - **Flu two days before the flight to Delhi** (cancellation fees up to the full fare): A sudden illness that makes travel unreasonable is covered by every cancellation policy. Get a doctor's certificate and cancel at once. - **Ten weeks in Southeast Asia** (all medical costs of the trip): If a trip exceeds the maximum length, a standard annual policy often covers none of it. Strong policies allow an extension or offer a long-stay tariff. - **Filling falls out in Lisbon** (around EUR 80 to 250): Travel health policies pay for pain relief and simple temporary fillings. The permanent treatment is done and paid for back in Germany. - **You just change your mind** (cancellation fees up to the full fare): Cancellation insurance needs an insured reason such as illness or job loss. A change of heart is never one. ## Myth or truth - „German statutory health insurance never pays for a flight home." ✔ True. Repatriation to Germany is not covered by the public system, not even from EU countries. Only a private travel health policy pays for it. - „Travel insurance bought after I fell ill still covers that illness." ✘ No. Insurers cover events that happen after the policy starts, and a known illness counts as pre-existing. Buy cover before you book or feel unwell. - „If your flight lands three hours late, the airline may owe you up to EUR 600." ✔ True under the EU air passenger rights regulation, depending on distance: EUR 250, 400 or 600. Extraordinary circumstances such as storms are excluded. No insurance is needed for this. - „With German private health insurance I am usually covered on trips abroad." ✔ Mostly yes, within limits. Many private tariffs cover temporary stays abroad, sometimes for a limited period outside Europe, but repatriation is often not included. Check your terms before you rely on them. - „If the Foreign Office warns against travel, cancellation insurance pays." ✘ No, a travel warning is not an insured cancellation reason. For package holidays, German law often lets you cancel for free when extraordinary circumstances hit the destination. ## Common mistakes - Relying on the European Health Insurance Card and forgetting repatriation - Assuming your policy covers long visits to your home country - Buying cancellation cover after the deadline following the booking - Staying abroad longer than the policy allows - Inviting non-EU relatives without incoming cover ## FAQ ### Does German statutory health insurance cover me on holiday in the EU? Partly. With the European Health Insurance Card you get the treatment a local would, with local co-payments, and not at private clinics. Repatriation to Germany is never covered. ### What does annual travel health insurance cost in Germany? Published comparisons show around EUR 10 to 30 a year for a single person under 65 and around EUR 25 to 60 for a family. It becomes much more expensive from 65 or 70. ### Am I covered when I visit my home country? It depends on the policy. Some exclude countries where you are a citizen or have a residence, some limit such trips. Check this clause if you travel home regularly. ### How do I insure my parents visiting from abroad? With an incoming policy, bought before they travel. For a Schengen visa it must include at least EUR 30,000 of medical cover and repatriation. ### When should I buy cancellation insurance? Ideally when you book. Single-trip policies often have to be taken out within a few days of booking or at least around 30 days before departure. An annual policy covers bookings made after it starts. ### Does my credit card include travel insurance? Premium cards sometimes do, often only if the trip was paid with the card and with limits on length and companions. Read the card terms before you rely on them. ### Do I need luggage insurance? Usually not. German contents insurance includes cover outside the home for burglary and robbery, and airlines are liable for lost or delayed checked luggage under the Montreal Convention. ### What if I stay abroad longer than eight weeks? With a standard annual policy the whole trip is often not covered, not just the extra days. Long-stay policies exist for that. ## Legal basis and sources - [Insurance Contract Act (VVG, German)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/vvg_2008/) - [BaFin company database (licensed insurers)](https://portal.mvp.bafin.de/database/InstInfo/) ## Request quotes We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. Free of charge and without obligation: the insurer pays our commission. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-travel-insurance.php#anfrage --- NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. For boat and yacht insurance we act as underwriting agency, not as broker. NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Karl-Marx-Straße 4, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen, +49 3375 29 12 77, info@nammert.com. Wikidata: Q141141479.