One of the perks to living in a generally risk-averse culture may well be the products you can get to shield yourself from the terrifying consequences of various worst-case scenarios.
From health insurance to accident insurance to legal insurance if you get sued – there’s a wide, and even confusing array of products available in Austria. In what can be a culture shock to some foreigners, these are the ones you’re required to have by law. Later on, we get into some useful optional insurance.
Public health insurance and social insurance
Krankenversicherung, or health insurance, is the most basic and well-known insurance you’re required to have by Austrian law.
As a foreigner, you’ll often need it even to set foot in the country, with many visas or residency permits requiring you to show proof of health insurance. Typically, this is a travel insurance policy that includes at least €30,000 worth of coverage with medical cover. This should tide you over until you get public health insurance in Austria.
All residents of Austria – whether Austrian or foreign – must have public health insurance by law. Like tax, the contributions you have to pay are proportional to your income, and are often deducted off your payslip automatically each month.
There are also several different public insurance funds available, depending on whether you’re employed, self-employed, or a public sector worker. About 82 percent of the country is insured with Österreichische Gesundheitskasse (ÖGK), the fund used by most employees.
In addition to public health insurance, residents of Austria can – if they choose - also opt for additional private health insurance on top of what they pay in public insurance. We’ll cover this more below.
READ ALSO: Everything foreigners need to know about the Austrian healthcare system
Employees must also have unemployment insurance, pension insurance, and accident insurance related to their jobs – although the human resources department of your workplace will typically manage this for you. For the self-employed, these are managed by the same body that manages your health insurance – the Social Insurance Institution of the Self-Employed (SVS). Public accident insurance will cover people if they become unable to work due to a workplace injury – but not accidents that may occur off the job. There is some extra optional insurance for this we detail below.
READ ALSO: Unemployment benefits in Austria: Who is eligible and how much can you get?
Own a car? You’ll need insurance
If you plan on driving your own car in Austria, you will need to purchase car insurance. This is called Kfz-Haftpflichtversicherung – and is a type of public liability insurance specifically for drivers.
It’s important not to confuse this with either a Verkehr – or transport - plan in legal insurance, or with general public liability insurance – which will not cover any damage to someone else or public property you may cause if you get in a car accident. While the other two insurance types are useful to have, they’re not required by law. By contrast, car-related public liability is mandatory if you own a car.
If you’ve moved to Austria with a car, your existing insurance will cover you for the first month you live here. During that time, you need to register and insure your vehicle.
Note too that many car insurance plans will include partial or full coverage for damage to your car from theft, fire, and even animals. These are nice to have, but only the third party liability part of a car insurance policy is legally required in Austria. If you were to only purchase a bare minimum plan, any damages to someone else or their property in an accident would be covered – but the damage to your own vehicle would come out of your own pocket.
Own your home? You’ll need insurance
If you own your own home, you’ll need a standard home insurance plan – or Eigenheimversicherung. As with many types of insurance, there’s one you’re required to have by law and then optional add-ons that might give you extra coverage.
In the case of home insurance, you’ll need a plan that covers fire, burglary, and storm damage. If you have a pool, garden, or solar panels, for example – you can get additional insurance. These extras though, aren’t mandatory.
Have a dog? Yep. You’ll need insurance
If you own a dog, you are also required to have a type of pet insurance in Austria that covers liabilities of up to €725,000 if your furry friend ends up hurting someone else or damaging property.
This is called Hundehaftpflichtversicherung. While it covers public liability for things your dog may do, it isn’t pet health insurance. Again, while pet health insurance can be incredibly useful and save you a lot of money on any vet bills – only public liability is required by Austrian law.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Everything you need to know about owning a pet in Austria
Useful optional insurances
As we’ve been suggesting, there’s plenty of additional insurances that are useful to have in Austria beyond what you’re legally required to have.
With so many Austrians and Austrian residents taking out insurance, prices for these are often very reasonable – often just a couple hundred euros a year. But they can provide incredibly comprehensive coverage if the worst happens.
The most basic of these is Hausratversicherung. While homeowners are required to get Eigenheimversicherung to cover things like fire and storm damage, Hausratversichering insures the contents of a home during the same events. Thus either owners or tenants can take out Hausratversichering to protect their stuff at home.
Other add-on insurances can include the ones mentioned above, like full coverage for your car in the event of fire or theft, pet health insurance, or private health and accident insurance.
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash
Private health insurance in Austria may get you more options for doctors – as some only work with private patients – or it may get you a private hospital room if you end up having to stay in one. Meanwhile, private accident insurance – or Unfallversicherung – will cover you if you become unable to work for a longer period of time due to an accident you had off the job, rather than the public accident insurance that covers you if you have a workplace injury. A more comprehensive – and typically more expensive - version of this is Berufsunfähigkeitversicherung, which replaces the income of someone who becomes completely unable to practice their profession. People in higher-risk professions like builders may have this type of insurance. If they become unable to work anymore, this insurance will pay out their salaries until they reach retirement age.
General public liability insurance – or Haftpflichtversicherung – is also available to cover you if you or your family, your children for example, cause damage to someone else’s property. This could include instances where your kids break a neighbour’s window while outside playing or you accidentally spill a bottle of wine on a friend’s laptop at a party. In both cases, you can typically make a claim on this insurance to cover the damages – rather than pay them out of pocket.
Austria also has many comprehensive travel insurance – or Reiseversicherung plans – to cover you if your trip gets cancelled or you need medical treatment abroad. It can be especially good to have if you travel outside the EU a lot, where your European Health Insurance Card won’t be valid.
Finally, there’s Rechtschutzversicherung – an insurance that protects you if you get sued in Austria. This insurance can help you in a variety of situations, such as with litigious neighbours, in work disputes, in traffic accidents, or in landlord disputes. With it, you can typically fight a case without incurring financially debilitating legal bills.
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