Insure from 18

Whether the adult child can be included in the family insurance depends, among other things, on whether the parents have statutory or private health insurance.

If the parents have statutory health insurance

Until the 25th birthday, your child can continue to be co-insured in the statutory health insurance without having to pay contributions. But there are conditions: Your adult child must still go to school, study or complete a voluntary social year. Both parents must have statutory health insurance. If only one partner has private health insurance, the parent with statutory insurance must earn more than the parent with private insurance in order for the child to be covered by statutory health insurance without having to pay contributions. For unmarried couples, income is irrelevant. In addition, children may have a maximum monthly income of 485 euros (as of 2023). Attention: this sum changes almost annually.

The family insurance takes effect after the 25th year of life for a maximum of 12 additional months, if a voluntary social year, a voluntary ecological year or a federal voluntary service is completed.

Whoever takes a job between school and studies or between bachelor's and master's studies usually has to take out their own health insurance. With the beginning of the studies, the family insurance takes effect again upon application.

If the parents are privately insured

If you are privately insured as parents, nothing changes with the 18th birthday initially. With the start of studies or training, your child must often decide whether it wants to remain privately insured or switch to the statutory health insurance. Let your private health insurance advise you on which solution suits you best.

If your child is doing an apprenticeship

If your child completes vocational training after school, he or she is usually compulsorily insured under a statutory health insurance plan.

Private liability insurance protects you if you cause damage to a third party through your own careless fault. If you are not insured, you have to pay for the entire damage yourself. For example, if you cause a traffic accident and injure a third party, you are liable for it for life in an unlimited amount. This can quickly add up to a lot of money. For this reason, protection by a private liability is indispensable.

Often children are co-insured with their parents if they have taken out a personal liability policy. You should check whether your policy has an age limit and whether it is also valid during training or studies. As long as your child is unmarried and still in training or studies, family insurance is usually sufficient. When your child completes his or her training or studies, he or she must take out his or her own policy. Even if your child gets married, is employed or if he/she stays abroad for several years, he/she must insure him/herself.

If your child moves into a shared apartment for the purpose of training or studying, the insurance cover under the family tariff of the parental household contents insurance usually remains in force as long as the center of life is with the parents. If your child runs his or her own household containing valuable furniture or electronic equipment, you should consider taking out a separate household contents insurance policy. A bicycle can also be covered by the household contents insurance.

Whoever is young is usually healthy and does not worry about a later occupational disability. However, this is not so far-fetched. Statistically, one in four people will become unable to work at least once during their working lives. The occupational disability insurance provides protection if the occupation can no longer be performed for health reasons. If the income falls away, it can close the financial gap.

The conclusion of an occupational disability insurance can already be useful for adult trainees and students. Why? Young people enjoy in case of an occupational disability by arising illnesses within the first occupational years no or only a strongly limited protection by the legal pension insurance carriers. And the earlier an occupational disability policy is taken out, the lower the premiums, since young people generally do not have any pre-existing conditions that are decisive for the tariff classification at the time the policy is taken out. If your child looks out for the option of subsequent insurance without a new health check when taking out the contract, he or she is on the safe side.

Work and travel, semester abroad, voluntary service abroad? If your child is going abroad for a longer period of time, a private travel health insurance is indispensable. Co-insurance with parents is usually only included up to the 18th birthday. Then a separate policy is required. It is mandatory for stays outside Europe, but is also recommended within the European borders. When concluding the contract, pay attention to the agreed insurance period. For a year abroad, an extra policy for a longer stay abroad may be required.

If you want to save money on car insurance, it is usually cheaper if one parent insures the child's car as a second car and has the daughter or son registered as the driver. This enables the child to be classified in a more favorable no-claims class. If your child has been driving for a few years without any claims, the insurance policy can be rewritten. The insured parent can usually transfer the no-claims bonus to the child.