Student travel insurance
Built for one long stay, where an ordinary policy's day cap runs out.
What it is
A student policy covers a single extended period abroad — a semester, an academic year, a placement — rather than a holiday. The distinguishing feature is not a discount; it is that ordinary travel policies stop covering you after a few weeks, and this one does not.
The shape of the cover is built around living somewhere, not visiting it.
Trip length runs to a year or more rather than a month. Cover normally continues while you are studying and often while working part-time, both of which standard policies may exclude. Most include trips home during the stay without ending the policy, and many extend to your possessions in term-time accommodation — closer to a contents policy than to holiday baggage cover.
What it covers
- Emergency medical treatment for the whole period abroad
- Repatriation, including compassionate return if a close relative is seriously ill
- Course fees in some policies, if illness forces you to abandon the year
- Personal possessions in study accommodation, at contents-style limits
- Trips home and short travel within the region during the stay
- A semester or year abroad, an exchange, or an Erasmus placement
- Anyone whose study visa requires proof of medical cover
- Long unpaid internships and research stays, which price similarly
- A student visa and a university may have different insurance requirements, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other. Check both before buying.
- Paid work is excluded on many policies even where unpaid study is covered. If you plan to work part-time, confirm it explicitly.
- Cover for the journey home at the end is not automatic on every policy — check the end date covers your return, not just the study period.
Priced by duration more than anything else, so the monthly rate is usually well below a holiday policy's. Destination matters sharply: a year in a high-cost healthcare country is a different product from a year within Europe.
See what drives the priceCommon questions
Sometimes, and it is the first thing to check because you may be paying twice. University schemes vary from comprehensive to a thin liability policy that covers the institution rather than you. Read what it actually insures, what the medical limit is, and whether it covers you outside term time and outside the host country.
Usually yes — most student policies expect you to travel within the region and to go home at least once, and they are written so the policy does not lapse when you do. There is normally a limit on how long you can spend back in your home country before cover pauses. Check that number if you intend to spend a long vacation at home.
Long-stay national visas are issued under each country's own rules rather than the Schengen short-stay code, so the €30,000 figure is not automatically the standard — some countries require more, and some require enrolment in a specific national scheme. Take the requirement from the consulate handling your application, and use the coverage calculator only as a floor to compare against.
packset.travel is an independent trip-planning tool, not an insurer or broker. This is general information, not insurance advice — always confirm cover levels and entry requirements with the insurer and the relevant consulate before you travel.
Holding cover and being able to prove it are different things. Work out the exact minimum a Schengen consulate accepts for your dates, then compare it against what your certificate actually says.