Temporary health insurance prior to starting work

Ok, I have read most of the threads on Health Insurance. But haven't really found anything that answers my question.
I am going to be in Munich for probably a month or two before I would start working. Can I just get travel insurance for the first few months then go with the German domestic insurance when I start working? Or since I will be living in Germany do I have to get the domestic insurace when I get there?
Thanks

You can be here with an international insurance while not working. It's just like if you were a tourist. You will need a German insurance before registering with the authorities. If you don't plan to register and apply for a residence permit those two months at the begining then you don't need a German insurance.

So can I rent a place and get a bank account and such without registering with the authorities?
And if I register, and don't work for a month or two, how much would the German Insurance cost, approximately?
Thanks again

I'm no expert on anything (YorkshireLad will confirm that), but something that I discovered when moving back full time to Germany at the beginning of this year may be relevant to you.

My U.S. employment finished 31st of December 2006, so naturally the U.S. health insurance that the company paid on my behalf finished then also. However, there's a feature of U.S. health insurances called CORBA. Do a quick google of CORBA health insurance to get more information. It basically means that after your employment ends, you have 6 weeks during which you're still covered and you have the option of continuing that health insurance for a period of up to 15 months by taking on the commitment to paying the full fees yourself. I used this 6 weeks this year to decide whether I'd continue my U.S. Oxford health plan (which has worldwide coverage) or take up a German plan.

You can get a bank account and all that hooha without registering, I did. You can also start work on overseas insurance I guess, as I did this also for 1.5 years and no one said ticketyboo

Mook32, I see you're Canadian. Visit your B.C. health insurance office - I came here from Ontario and OHIP provided out-of-the-country coverage for one year. I had to get special permission from them and a new card, and it's something you can do only once in your lifetime. I'm sure B.C. must have a similar plan. It was worth it for us, it saved us 12,000 euros in German health insurance premiums. I miss those days...

I'm planning a trip to thailand on the way home this year and need to get vacinated etc. Is this covered by health insurance here? or can I even get them done here? If so does anyone know of a short term insurance I can get (unemployed) for the next 5 months?

Hi there

I'm hoping this is a good thread to post this on! I have a similar query to the original poster but just wanted a bit of extra advice.

I'm a British girl arriving in Berlin at the start of February with no job to go to but am hoping to find some kind of work from a few contacts I have out there. However, this will likely be for small music /arts companies, possibly on a freelance basis, who I doubt would provide funding for health insurance (not sure exactly how the system works but they are not big corporate employers so I doubt I would receive this kind of benefit)

I'm not sure of the best thing to do in this case. After reading around, the three options seem to be:

- To register as a citizen
Since I would be unemployed would it seems I may be eligible for any unemployment benefits - would I get health insurance help of any kind too?

- To not register and just survive on travel insurance for a while.
But it seems this could cause me problems in getting a flat sorted and a bank account set up, is this definately the case?

- To find private insurance
Due to having no job to start with, and probably a fairly low paying job in the long run, I worry that I would struggle to afford this.
What could I expect to pay monthly if I got a good deal? Can anybody recommend good places to look? I don't have any health problems that should affect my premium.

Apologies if I sound a bit clueless - have read other threads first but nothing quite answered all my queries. Would muchly appreciate any advice people have on what route is best to take, or any tales of past experiences.

Big thanks to anybody who can help!

koenji25 -

it doesn't matter if they're big corporate empoyers or not, if a company hires you as an employee, they have to pay half your health and pension insurance by law. if you work freelance, you have to pay it all yourself, although you can choose to go without.

I don't know what you mean by "register as a citizen", but moving to Germany to immediately go on social assistance isn't something I'd personally recommend trying.

Travel insurance is probably your best bet. See what you can find in England, and how long it can last - usually it's up to six months or so. I don't know why this would cause any problems with getting a flat. The fact that you're unemployed is a bigger problem, landlords don't usually see that as a positive thing in a tenant. So probably you'll be looking at moving into a WG (shared flat) or a sublet, until you get some work. Once you have a place to live, you register your address with the city, and then you can get a bank account.

As a freelancer the minimum you'll pay with the "public" insurance companies is about 280 euros per month (only for health insurance, not pension insurance). Yes it is insane! If you're young, healthy, and single, private insurance is cheaper.

by the way, I'm not from the EU, so the rules are probably different - probably your British health insurance is valid in some way, maybe with some "top-up" travel insurance sort of thing, for a much longer time than 6 months.

Thanks for that sumguy

Will look into travel insurance options to cover me. Although if I do go and register my address, does that make my travel insurance invalid since I will be residing in Germany rather than being a tourist there? But if I don't register my address it seems I can't get a bank account! : ) Hmm, not sure the best thing to do in this case.

If I did start work on a freelance basis, do you know roughly how much I could expect to pay out for private health insurance per month? Are there any companies you know of that specialise in good quotes for freelancers?

Anyways, too many questions!

many thanks for your help!

By the way, thanks for the health insurace hyperlink sumguy, just noticed it and checking it out now

An option is the Auslanderversicherung offered by DKV. It is good for a maximum of 4 or 5 years combined total, not in a row. The rates are pretty good (don't remember exactly). You get the benefits of private insurance (faster appointments) but the hitch is that you have to send the bills to them, they pay direct to your account, then you pay the medical provider (up to a certain amount, larger amounts they will pay directly).

You can call them directly 0180-1358222 OR you can call Mr. Thomas Bohling (insurance agent specializing in English speaking clients) at 06151-64161. He may be far away from you, but will give you very solid advice on what your options are.

koenjii25: you as a British citizen who has not to apply for a visa or other form of allowing to live in Germany can will survive the first time with a good travel insurance. From my understanding of most travel insurances I would say that as long as you keep some legal "main" residency outside of Germany the insurance will cover your medical emergencies for the first couple of month. You should ask your UK broker/FA to explain this in detail to you, i.e. what rules you have to follow in order not to loose your insurance coverage.
You can register a "second" residence in Germany, which would be a co-residence to your UK residence in a manner of speaking and thus keep coverage from travel insurance as well as being able to open an account in Germany etc. But as said above, make sure that the person selling you the travel insurance know and explains the rules of the travel insurance in detail to you.

If you take on employment (even a 401 EUR job will do) you will get a compulsory public insurance through your employer here in Germany. As long as your income stay low level (up to 1.200.- EUr max per month) I would definetly recommend for you to enter public health insurance. Depending on the percentage of "art-work" in your occupation you might even be allowed to enter the artist social system called "Künstlersozialkasse (KSK)" which is definetly the least expensive way to get yourself insured within the German system. However, it is not easy to get in there and the rules are a bit complicated, you might need some local help from specialized third parties to get you in there - I can not be of help there, I am affraid.

Should you work on contract/freelancing without being able to enter KSK your next best option is either an international or German private insurance. IN my experience, if you compare full coverage (i.e. including pregnany/childbirth and full dental coverage), most internantional insurance do not fare better in comparison for coverage in relation to premium. But only in the international insurance you can forgo the coverage for these sectors and then you get a much lower premium than with a German health insurance. ON top of that and depending on your savings you could take the risk of a high deductible in order to further reduce your premium costs.

AS you can see: there are many ifs and whens and you should definetly seek professional advice once you are in Germany and know more about your legal work status. Will be happy to assist you then...

Cheerio

registering your address is fairly simple, everyone in germany is supposed to do it. you just get a form and get your landlord to sign it. it's completely different from getting any kind of residence permit, and you don't need a residence permit to register your address. i'm sure it would have no effect on the validity of your travel insurance (but ask your insurance company, not me).