Glossary – Insurance terms from A to Z

Travel accident insurance protects you in the event of an accident involving damage to health that occurred abroad. These can be accidents at home, on the road or during sports. Accident insurance is particularly recommended for longer trips and stays abroad. It pays up to the specified sum insured in the event of disability and death and, depending on the insurance, covers costs up to the specified sum insured, e.g. for salvage or cosmetic surgery.

In the event of disability, the sum insured amounts to € 20,000 when taking out the Basic tariff and € 60,000 when taking out the Profi tariff. The amount of the benefit depends on the sum insured and the degree of disability. The exact degrees of disability can be found in the insurance terms and conditions for travel insurance.

An annual insurance is a policy that lasts for one year (year=365 days/leap year=366 days). With an annual travel insurance, several trips can be covered within one year. Often, an annual insurance is cheaper for as few as two holiday trips per year than a one-off insurance for one trip. The term does not refer to a calendar year, but runs for 365 days from the date of conclusion. The insurance policies are automatically renewed if they are not cancelled in time.

Examples of annual insurances:

Annual travel health insurance
Annual travel cancellation insurance

The term au pair comes from the French. Au pairs are young people who help with childcare and/or household chores in exchange for room & board and pocket money with a family abroad. In the process, they get to know the language and culture of the host country.

For au pairs, HanseMerkur offers a specially tailored travel insurance, which includes travel health insurance, as well as accident and liability insurance and other travel insurances.

Boat trips are basically all trips on water (e.g. cruises, river cruises, sailing trips, yacht charters). The separately stated premium for ship voyages applies here.

The following journeys are excluded: "Blue Voyage" in Turkey and Nile cruises in tour operator catalogues, ferry passages and houseboats. In these cases, the premiums for plane journeys apply.

Combined trips must be insured as ship voyages if it accounts for more than 1/3 of the total trip duration (e.g. one week river cruise and one week hotel).

A bus tour includes trips with a bus/coach arrival and departure followed by a hotel stay or a coach tour at the destination.

A caregiver is a person who looks after a minor or dependent relative of the insured person who is travelling with or not travelling with the insured person. The caregiver is considered a risk person in the travel cancellation insurance.

A claim or insured event is when the insured risk occurs and the insurer's obligation to pay benefits is triggered. This can be, for example, an unexpected and serious illness in the case of travel cancellation insurance before the start of the trip, but also the loss of luggage in the case of travel luggage insurance.

In the event of a claim, please refer to the information on our website. There we will also give you tips on what to do in the case of emergency. We also give you further tips for make a claim.

Your insurance cover begins as follows:

• Travel cancellation insurance: with conclusion of the insurance policy
• Travel health insurance: when you leave the country (cross the border) in which you have your place of residence
• Other insurances: at the start of the journey

The journey is deemed to have begun as soon as you enter the booked and insured means of transport or the booked and insured property.

The insurance confirmation is a confirmation from the insurer that proves the insurance cover and contains all contractual details. This is valid until the policyholder receives his final insurance certificate. For some insurance companies, the confirmation of insurance also counts as the insurance certificate.

The term is the period during which a travel insurance is valid. It, therefore, denotes the period of validity. You can find more information on the term on the insurance product pages, in the insurance terms and conditions or in your insurance confirmation.

In the event of inpatient treatment, you have the choice between reimbursement of costs for inpatient treatment and a daily allowance of EUR 50 per day. It is paid for a maximum of 14 days from the start of inpatient treatment. The decision must be made at the beginning of the in-patient treatment. 

The date of entry refers to the day of entry into a country. For some longer-term insurances, the date of entry is necessary for the preparation of an offer and is requested in the booking process.

If the date of entry has not yet been fixed, e.g. because it is only determined by the embassy when a visa is issued, please contact our service hotline on 49 40 4119-1919 to book an insurance.

For products with cancellation protection (travel cancellation insurance), a closing deadline of 30 days after travel booking applies. For the other insurance policies, the contract must be concluded before the start of the journey. Insurance cover always exists only after payment of the premium. Events that occurred before the payment of the premium are not insured

A deductible is the financial share that the policyholder has to bear himself in the event of a claim. 

The following regulations apply to HanseMerkur insurances:

Travel cancellation and travel curtailment insurance for one trip
20% deductible costs are incurred for medical expenses abroad without submission to the private/social insurance.

Travel health insurances for one trip
No deductible (exception: longterm insurances) 

Annual travel insurances
No deductible

For further insurance and deductibles, please refer to the respective insurance terms and conditions on the product detail pages.

The country of travel refers to the country in which the insured person mainly stays during the trip or stay abroad.

For urgent emergencies during your trip, HanseMerkur Travel Insurance offers you an emergency number that can be reached worldwide 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. The 24-hour emergency call service advises you on the choice of hospital, organises a necessary ambulance transport or provides assistance within the framework of the emergency insurance.

Our tip: Make a note of the number +49 40 55557877 or save it in your mobile phone before you start your journey. In your insurance confirmation (for most health insurance abroad) you will also find a small card to cut out with all the important information.

The European Union (EU) is an association of 27 member states. Members are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. In contrast, Europe is a continent that includes other states or territories of other states.

The scope of "Europe" in travel insurance also includes African and Asian countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The following countries and territories are included:
Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan (up to the Urals), Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (up to the Urals), San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Czech Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Vatican City, Belarus and Cyprus,

Please always refer to the applicable provisions in the general insurance terms and conditions.

HanseMerkur offers particularly favourable rates for families for many travel insurances. Different family definitions apply to the various insurances. 

Travel insurances for one trip:

A family is deemed to be a maximum of two adults with at least one travelling child (irrespective of the family relationship and place of residence) under the age of 21 (up to 21st birthday), up to a total of seven children.

Annual travel insurances:

If a family insurance is taken out, a maximum of 2 adults and children under the age of 21 (up to 21st birthday) or two adults count as a family. Two adults without children can also book the family tariff.

A family insurance policy is a travel insurance with its own family tariff. As a family-friendly company, HanseMerkur offers special rates with favourable conditions for families. 

A flight cancellation due to severe weather is not insured.

HanseMerkur offers particularly favourable rates for groups for many travel insurance policies.

A group consists of at least 10 persons, and in the case of train journeys at least six persons. The travel date and destination must be the same for all travellers in the group.

The home country usually refers to the country of permanent residence. It is also usually the country where one was born and/or grew up.

Hospital treatment is inpatient treatment in a hospital. Depending on the type of insurance, inpatient treatment that cannot be postponed in an institution recognised as a hospital is covered under international health insurance. Or all medically necessary treatments are covered. Please refer to the respective insurance terms and conditions for more information.

The host country is the country in which a person mainly stays during a stay abroad.

Is an event specified in the insurance contract and covered. If this event occurs, the insured person is entitled to the insurance benefit. The insured events are precisely defined in the in each case.

The insured person is the person to whom the agreed insurance cover applies (this can also be the policyholder). The policyholder is the person who concludes the insurance contract with HanseMerkur Travel Insurance. For example, travel insurance can be taken out by a wife (policyholder) for her husband or for her children (insured persons). Or a tour guide (policyholder) takes out travel insurance for a tour group (insured persons).

An insurance policy (also known as an insurance certificate) is a document that certifies that an insurance contract has been concluded between the policyholder and the insurer. It contains all contractual agreements (e.g. start and end dates, personal data, insurance premium and the description of benefits). The insurance policy also includes the insurer's general insurance terms and conditions, which are often attached to the policy.

An insurance premium is the amount you have to pay for an insurance cover including insurance taxes. On our website, we mostly use the term "price". The price lists, which you will find on all product pages and in the booking process, list the applicable insurance premiums in detail.

The European Directive IDD – Insurance Distribution Directive – obliges insurance companies to inform every customer comprehensively before the purchase of an insurance. For this purpose, insurance companies must provide the "Insurance Product Information Document" (IPID) belonging to the respective product.

It provides information about the essential contents of the selected product.

• What type of insurance is it?
• What is insured?
• What is not insured?
• Are there limitations to the cover?
• Where am I insured?
• What obligations do I have?
• When and how should I pay?
• When does the cover start and end?
• How can I cancel the contract?

A lot of things can happen, which is why you have to withdraw from the trip. In the following cases, you are covered by our cancellation protection insurance and the travel protection insurance (travel curtailment insurance):

• Severe accidental injury
• Unexpected serious illness
• Pregnancy or complications during pregnancy
• death
• Vaccine tolerance (under cancellation protection)
• Fracture of prostheses
• Unexpected serious illness, serious accident, vaccination intolerance of a dog or cat registered for the trip (in Premium Cancellation Cover)
• Adoption of a minor child (under Premium cancellation protection)
• Loosening of an implanted joint
• Termination of employment for operational reasons (under cancellation protection)
• Short-time work (under cancellation protection)
• Taking up an employment relationship after unemployment (under cancellation protection)
• Change of employer and associated change of job with probationary period (under cancellation protection)
• Repetition of failed examinations (under cancellation protection)
• Significant damage to property as a result of fire, burst water pipes, burglary or natural hazards (under cancellation protection)
• Significant financial loss (over € 5,000) (under Premium cancellation protection and Premium travel protection)
• Receipt of a court summons (under cancellation protection)
• Failure of a pupil to move up classes during class trips (under cancellation protection)

The insurance year for the HanseMerkur Travel Insurance begins with the start of the insurance, which is stated in the insurance confirmation, and lasts for 12 months. All subsequent insurance years always begin and end at this time. The calendar year is, therefore, not used to calculate the insurance year.

Travel health insurance (also: international travel health insurance or interantional health insurance) is one of the most important travel insurance policies. It is also recommended by consumer organisations. It covers you in the event of an accident or an emerging illness during your trip. This way you are also well covered during your holiday. Medical care abroad is sometimes very expensive. Moreover, your statutory health insurance does not pay in all countries. But even in countries with which there is a social security agreement, not all benefits (e.g. return transport) are covered.

A trip is considered to be "joint" if the trip is started with no greater difference than 3 days and is demonstrably to be spent mostly together.

Luggage refers to your suitcases, bags or backpacks including the items they contain. Your hand luggage also counts as luggage. In order to protect yourself against loss, damage or destruction, you can book a luggage insurance. This is particularly recommended for luggage with valuable contents.

In these cases, the luggage insurance will replace the current value of your luggage, as well as your personal belongings, acquired on the trip in the following cases:

• In case of criminal offences, e.g. robbery and theft
• In the event of loss or damage by a carrier (this does not, however, apply to valuables)
• In the event of an accident to your means of transport
• In the event of fire, lightning, explosion, storm, floods, landslides, earthquakes and avalanches

Luggage insurance, for example, is part of our and travel insurance.

A patient transport operation involves the transport of an ill or injured patient from abroad back to his or her place of residence. If medical care cannot be provided abroad, this is a medically necessary return transport. In the case of a medically reasonable return transport of the patient, the recommendation made in consultation between the attending physician and a neutral flight physician from the Emergency Call Service is normally sufficient. In both cases, contact must be made with HanseMerkur in order to organise what is necessary, to coordinate with the doctors and to clarify the assumption of costs. For this purpose, the 24-hour emergency call service is at your disposal.

Travel health insurance policies provided by HanseMerkur Travel Insurance generally cover medically reasonable return transport of the patient. Please refer to the general insurance terms and conditions in each individual case.

Medicinal products (also referred to as drugs or medicines) are substances that are used to cure, alleviate or prevent diseases or to make diagnoses. They are used on the body or administered to the patient.

HanseMerkur's travel health insurances generally reimburse all medicines used for medically necessary treatment, provided they are prescribed by a doctor. The exact provisions can be found in the general insurance terms and conditions or the tariff description.

In most cases, you will receive the medicines directly from the doctor, hospital or pharmacy and you will pay on the spot. Have all costs confirmed with appropriate proof. Then submit the documents to us for reimbursement. Please also refer to our notes in the section.

Outpatient treatment is medical care provided by a doctor and dentist, but also treatment without an inpatient stay in hospital. In other words, directly after the treatment, the patient leaves the place where he was treated again.

In the event of return transport from abroad to the home country, a distinction is made between medically necessary repatriation ordered by a doctor and medically expedient repatriation.

Medically necessary return transport is, for example, when the patient cannot be treated appropriately abroad. The return transport can take place as soon as the patient is fit for transport. The decision on this is made by the doctors of the emergency service.

You can choose between bank debit or SEPA direct debit, credit card payment (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club International) and Paypal.

In the case of a one-off payment, the amounts are collected immediately when the insurance is booked; in the case of annual insurance, they are also collected immediately when the first direct debit is made, and in the case of any subsequent premiums, they are collected in each case on the next due date resulting from the respective start of the insurance.

The policyholder is the person who concludes the contract with HanseMerkur. The policyholder can also be the insured person at the same time (but does not have to be). The insured person is the person to whom the agreed insurance cover applies. For example, travel insurance can be taken out by a wife (policyholder) for her husband or for her children (insured persons). Or a tour guide (policyholder) takes out travel insurance for a tour group (insured persons).

Public means of transport are all air, land or water vehicles licensed for public passenger transport within Germany. Means of transport operating as part of round trips/round flights are not considered to be public or connecting transport. Furthermore, rental cars, taxis and cruise ships are not public transport. 

We will reimburse you for the re-booking costs up to a maximum of € 30 per person/object. For this purpose, the booking must be changed at least 42 days before the start of the trip without giving reasons for the cancellation. 

Should you re-book for a reason stated in the travel cancellation insurance, we will refund up to the amount of the cancellation fee incurred at the time of rebooking. The insurance cover applies to the travel cancellation insurance.

Remedies are personally provided medical services. In the context of travel insurance, there is often talk of "medically prescribed medicines, dressings and remedies". These remedies include, for example, baths, packs, inhalations or physical therapy and therapeutic gymnastics.

Aids are body replacements, orthopaedic or other devices that are necessary to ensure the success of a treatment, to prevent the potential onset of a disability or to compensate for a disability. These can be, for example, prostheses, wheelchairs, walking aids, glasses or hearing aids. You will find precise definitions in the respective insurance terms and conditions.

The scope of cover indicates the countries in which travel insurance applies. The insurance only provides the described travel cover in the countries specified in the scope of validity.

We guarantee the highest level of security in handling your data when you book a HanseMerkur travel insurance within our booking section.

What is SSL?

SSL (abbreviation for "Secure Socket Layer") is a generally recognised encryption protocol for data transmission on the Internet. SSL ensures that your data is sent over the internet in encrypted form and is protected from unwanted access and manipulation.

The insurance start date is not the same as the booking or closing date. The protection provided by the insurance policy applies from the start of the insurance. Insurance cover commences on the date documented in the insurance confirmation (provided the insurance premium has been paid). It also depends on the type of insurance:

• Cancellation protection insurance: from payment of the premium at the earliest
• Travel health insurance
  • Travel health insurance: with the start of the journey at the earliest
  • Health insurance for foreign guests (incoming): Commencement of insurance at the earliest upon entry into Germany or the countries of the European Union, as well as Switzerland or Liechtenstein
• Annual insurance cover: at the earliest on the agreed date

A stay abroad refers to a stay outside one's home country – regardless of the duration. However, this is usually understood to mean a longer-term stay, e.g. for a school exchange, a study or internship abroad, but also for a temporary professional activity abroad.

During a stay abroad, you are not protected by the statutory health insurance for all situations and not everywhere. It is, therefore, advisable to have international health insurance abroad, which can also be supplemented with accident and liability insurance, for example:

Travel health insurance

Travel health insurance for pupils & students 

Annual travel health insurance

The sum insured is the maximum amount that the insurance company pays out to the insured person in the event of a claim. In principle, the insurance company shall pay the amount of actual damage suffered in the event of a claim. However, if a sum insured has been agreed, it shall pay no more than this amount. The sum insured is also known as the sum covered. Without this limit, insurance premiums would rise immeasurably.

Travel insurance is priced differently depending on either the risk (e.g. the price of the trip, the duration of the trip, the scope of coverage or the services included) or the travellers (e.g. individual, group or family). These different classifications within a travel insurance are known as tariffs.

The tariff description is part of the the insurance terms and conditions regulate the contractual rights and obligations and the scope of the insurance cover.

In some cases, HanseMerkur combines several travel insurance policies in the general insurance terms and conditions. In this case, additional tariff descriptions are prepared for the individual insurance policies in which the benefits are described in detail.

Travel curtailment is the premature termination of a holiday or stay abroad. With HanseMerkur Travel Insurance, you can insure yourself against the costs of such a curtailment. Our protection insurance (travel curtailment insurance) reimburses you for additional return travel costs and unused travel benefits incurred if you interrupt the trip for an insured reason, e.g. in the event of unexpected and serious illness, significant damage to property or the death of a relative. In addition, in the case of a round trip or cruise, travel curtailment is also insured. Here, the post-trip costs incurred are reimbursed.

In contrast to trip cancellation insurance, which offers you cover BEFORE the trip, travel curtailment insurance protects you DURING the trip. We, therefore, recommend a combination of the two insurance policies.

Travel insurance is the generic term for the various insurance policies that can be taken out to cover a trip. Travel insurance includes, for example, the following:

Travel cancellation insurance

Travel health insurance

Annual travel health insurance

The travel time refers to the period between the start and end of the journey. The day of the outward journey and the return journey both count as a full day. A trip from the 6th to the 11th (five nights/six days), therefore, includes six days that must be insured.

The entire duration of the trip must be insured; otherwise, no legally binding contract is concluded despite payment of the premium and there is no insurance cover.

Cancellation and travel protection can be claimed in the event of an unexpected serious illness.

The disease is severe when:

• the attending doctor determines that the person is unfit to travel
• the presence of the insured person on site is required due to the illness of a person

Each first occurrence of an illness after the insurance is taken out and after the trip is booked is considered to be unexpected.

A repeat incidence of an illness is also insured if no treatment for this illness was given in the two weeks before insurance was taken out.

An unexpected deterioration of a pre-existing illness is also insured if no treatment for this illness was given during the six months before insurance was taken out.

Vehicle assistance is an insurance for travelling with your own car within Germany and Europe. It offers protection and support in the event of breakdowns, accidents & theft:

• Assistance at the scene of the damage
• Payment of towing costs
• Delivery of spare parts
• Motor vehicle shipping
• Travel expenses if the trip cannot be continued

With HanseMerkur, motor vehicle assistance is part of the travel insurance for trips by car.