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Insurances for foreign students - guideline

E.E.A. insured (*) and Switzerland insured

  1. You are legally obliged to have a health insurance during your stay in Belgium ( for you and your family members staying in Belgium)!! You need to pay the premium yourself!
    • the E.E.A. student and the student from Switzerland who has a health insurance in a country of the European Union, has to apply in his/her country of insurance for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC);
    • the holder of a EHIC has the right to take the medical care during his stay in Belgium, at the same conditions as provided by the Belgian legislation, but he/she can only get (partial) reimbursement for the medical care that is necessary during his/her stay, taking the nature of the medical care into account and the duration of the stay; attention: healthcare in itself may not be the aim of the visit;
    • if obtaining a EHIC is impossible in any specific situation, then the student will have to approach a health fund (**) immediately upon his/her arrival in Belgium, in order to obtain insurance cover; the student will have to provide this health fund with a certificate that shows that his/her insurance cover abroad has ceased to be in effect;
    • the EHIC is valid throughout any of the countries of the European Union (25 Member States), Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland;
    • if you can’t obtain a EHIC and if you can’t get the health insurance directly with the health fund (**) in Belgium, you will need to subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese – Fill in the form to subscribe - It is obliged to fill in the cost centre (SAP). The premium paid by the department can be charged to the insured if previously agreed.), which covers as well health (sickness and disability) as civil liability in private life and travel insurance. It is not possible to subscribe a separate health insurance, because the premium for the separate health insurance is the same as the premium for the all-in insurance.
  2. (only if you did not subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese)) You are not obliged, but we recommend you strongly to subscribe also the insurance for civil liability private life (ETHIAS, fill in the form to subscribe this insurance). This insurance may be important in case of a bicycle accident, as a pedestrian, in the weekend, … You need to pay the premium yourself! Attention: if you subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese), you do not need to subscribe the apart insurance for civil liability private life (ETHIAS), because these risks are already included in the all-in insurance.
  3. (only if you did not subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese)) You are not obliged, but we recommend you strongly to subscribe also to the insurance for travel assistance (De Europese, to obtain an application form you have to send (as a staff member of the UGent) an email to verzekeringen@ugent.be mentioning "application form travel insurance"). This insurance is for example important when you need to be repatriated to your country of origin or if you need to return prematurely to your country of origin because a relative had died. You need to pay the premium yourself!Attention: if you subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese), you do not need to subscribe the apart insurance for travel assistance (De Europese), because these risks are already included in the all-in insurance.
  4. Through your enrolment as a student, you will be insured by the Ghent University automatically as regards your "physical accidents during university activities" (Ethias).
  5. Through your enrolment as a student, you will be insured by the Ghent University automatically as regards your "civil liability during university activities" (which does not include, however, the journey to and from such university activities).
  6. If you rent a property for you accommodation in Ghent, the landlord will normally oblige you to subscribe a so-called fire insurance to cover your responsibility concerning fire and related dangers as well as electrical and water damage (in some contracts the landlord subscribes himself this insurance, but you as the tenant has to pay your share in the costs; so, it is important to read well your rent/ lease contract). Moreover we recommend you to contact an insurance company to subscribe an insurance for your personal belongings (it is not possible to subscribe such a policy via the Ghent University; you need to approach yourself an insurance company).

Non-E.E.A. insured (except Switzerland)

  1. You are legally obliged to have a health insurance during your stay in Belgium ( for you and your family members staying in Belgium)!! You will have to approach a health fund (**) directly, immediately upon arriving in Belgium;  this health fund will examine your specific situation; in some cases, an E111-/E128 form will be possible for non-E.E.A. nationals, too; in most cases, however, it will be necessary for you to obtain health insurance cover from the health fund for himself/herself and for the members of his/her family residing in Belgium:
    • you need to pay the premium yourself!
    • the health fund will normally not require any waiting period;
    • to be able to register with the health fund as a student, the student must be able to present to the health fund a certificate of enrolment as a student at the Ghent University.
    • as per January 1, 2009, according to the information available at the Legal Department of the Ghent University, the following rates are in force for any enrolment as a student: legal contribution 49.88 Euro per quarter + health fund membership contribution (mostly 5 Euro per month). For the correct amounts you have to contact the health fund!
    • as soon as the student will be in a position to produce proof of his/her registration with the register of foreigners (can take quite some time) as well as of a stay of more than three months in Belgium, and has signed a statement of his/her income, he/she may request the health fund, in principle, to be registered as a “resident” (also referred to as “party entitled according to the national register”); the following rates are in force as per January 1, 2009 for a “ registration as a resident” according tot the information available at the Legal Department of the Ghent University (but: for the correct amounts and conditions you have to contact the health fund!):

Registration as resident Legal contribution Health fund membership contribution

Joint family income on an annual basis, less than 11,384 Euro

0 Euro per quarter

In most cases 5 Euro per month

Joint family income on an annual basis, more than 11,384 Euro but less than 14,624 Euro

53.40 Euro per quarter

In most cases 5 Euro per month

Joint family income on an annual basis, more than 14,624 Euro but less than 30,215 Euro

314.97 Euro per quarter

In most cases 5 Euro per month

Joint family income on an annual basis, more than 30,215 Euro

629.96 Euro per quarter

In most cases 5 Euro per month
    • as soon as the student will be in a position to produce proof of his/her registration with the register of foreigners (can take quite some time) as well as of a stay of more than three months in Belgium, and has signed a statement of his/her income, he/she may request the health fund, in principle, to be registered as a “resident” (also referred to as “party entitled according to the national register”); the following rates are in force as per January 1, 2009 for a “ registration as a resident” according tot the information available at the Legal Department of the Ghent University (but: for the correct amounts and conditions you have to contact the health fund!): health funds will not charge, in principle, any extra rate for possible family members;
    • if the health fund refuses (possibly on a temporary basis) to register any student, then this student you will need to subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese – Fill in the form to subscribe - It is obliged to fill in the cost centre (SAP). The premium paid by the department can be charged to the insured if previously agreed.), which covers as well health (sickness and disability) as civil liability in private life and travel insurance; you need to pay the premium yourself! It is not possible to subscribe a separate health insurance, because the premium for the separate health insurance is the same as the premium for the all-in insurance.
  1. (only if you did not subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese)) You are not obliged, but we recommend you strongly to subscribe also the insurance for civil liability private life (ETHIAS, fill in the form to subscribe this insurance). This insurance may be important in case of a bicycle accident, as a pedestrian, in the weekend, … you need to pay the premium yourself! Attention: if you subscribe the combination insurance (MARSH), you do not need to subscribe the apart insurance for civil liability private life (ETHIAS), because these risks are already included in the all-in insurance.
  2. (only if you did not subscribe the all-in insurance (De Europese)) You are not obliged, but we recommend you strongly to subscribe also the insurance for travel assistance (De Europese, to obtain an application form you have to send (as a staff member of the UGent) an email to verzekeringen@ugent.be mentioning "application form travel insurance"). This insurance is for example important when you need to be repatriated to your country of origin or if you need to return prematurely to your country of origin because a relative had died. you need to pay the premium yourself!Attention: if you subscribe the combination insurance (MARSH), you do not need to subscribe the apart insurance for travel assistance (De Europese), because these risks are already included in the all-in insurance.
  3. Through your enrolment as a student, you will be insured by the Ghent University automatically as regards your “physical accidents during university activities” (Ethias).
  4. Through your enrolment as a student, you will be insured by the Ghent University automatically as regards your “civil liability during university activities” (which does not include, however, the journey to and from such university activities).
  5. If you rent a property for you accommodation in Ghent, the landlord will normally oblige you to subscribe a so-called fire insurance to cover your responsibility concerning fire and related dangers as well as electrical and water damage (in some contracts the landlord subscribes himself this insurance, but you as the tenant has to pay your share in the costs; so, it is important to read well your rent/ lease contract). Moreover we recommend you to contact an insurance company to subscribe an insurance for your personal belongings (it is not possible to subscribe such a policy via the Ghent University; you need to approach yourself an insurance company).

(*) The E.E.A. countries are the Members of the European Economic Area, i.e. the Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

(**) For purposes of information, you will find below a limited list of authorised health funds in Ghent, in alphabetical order: