Types of Insurance for Students
Health Insurance
If you live in Germany, it is mandatory for you to have health insurance. You must register with a statutory health insurance company, regardless of whether you already have private insurance, which must be checked by the statutory insurance company, or whether you actually want to register with the statutory health insurance company. You can change from statutory health insurance to private health insurance in Germany, but you cannot change from private health insurance to statutory health insurance. We recommend statutory health insurance.
Detailed information for international exchange and degree students is available on the student health insurance page.
Personal Liability & Accident Insurance
You are strongly advised to take out personal liability insurance in addition to your health insurance. Personal liability insurance provides compensation for a third party in case of an accident caused by the student.
Accident Insurance
All students enrolled at RWTH are automatically insured against work-related accidents and accidents taking place during university-organized events as well as on the entire premises of the university. Please note that you are not insured during your leisure time outside of the university premises. An accident must be reported to the Info Center of Studierendenwerk Aachen, for example via email.
Visiting students, who are completing a project or internship at an RWTH institute but who are not enrolled at RWTH, are not automatically insured against accidents.
Conducting a project or internship without accident insurance can lead to drastic restrictions in your work and may restrict you from even entering the location of the internship, such as a lab. Check with your supervisor whether you need accident insurance for your work at the institute and pay attention to our enrollment deadlines. You may need to purchase private accident insurance in order to conduct your project or internship without having student status at RWTH.
Here you can find further detailed information about insurance.
Household Insurance
Household insurance insures your apartment and valuables against damages, such as fire, theft, water damage, vandalism, and storm damage. If you purchase household insurance, we recommend that you compile a list of all your belongings and keep all of your receipts in order to be able to determine the exact amount of damage, if necessary. We even recommend taking pictures of valuable belongings, such as insured bicycles. In Germany, you are not required to purchase household insurance. Do not purchase any insurance plan if you do not understand the contractual conditions.
If you have questions about insurance, please contact the Info Service Center.
Researchers can find useful information about insurance here.