Studying, job, shared apartment, partying – student life is exciting and goes by quickly. This leaves little time (and money) to worry about insurance for later. It makes sense, especially as a student, to look into insurance, for example occupational disability insurance. What if your life is out of balance?
One in four people is currently unable to work before they retire, age plays no role - it's no wonder that consumer advocates repeatedly point out that occupational disability insurance is the most important insurance of all, alongside personal liability. In the first five years, career starters and graduates in particular receive no statutory protection from the state in the event of occupational disability and after that only a mini-pension.
Important information about occupational disability insurance for students
Students can take out good occupational disability insurance at very affordable premiums and thus secure their standard of living if something doesn't go as planned. However, you should think about the topic in detail beforehand and only then complete one of the many offers. The Studentenberufsuntalent.de portal is helpful for this: There you will find valuable general information on the topic, a guide and an encyclopedia with the most important technical terms. You can also request an offer that is tailored specifically to your individual needs.
Would you like to find out more general information about the most important terms relating to insurance? Then our list from AZ will certainly help you:
Abstract reference:
The abstract reference means that the insurer is exempt from paying benefits if there is another job that you could do and that does not have too much of an impact on your standard of living. It doesn't matter whether you actually practice the job or whether it is even available. This means the insurer can always refer you to other professions that you could still pursue. That's why you should always exclude abstract references! With the student tariff, some insurers protect your ability to study, others already protect your career profile after graduation.
Breach of reporting obligation:
When submitting the application, the health status of the insured person is asked. Absolute honesty is required here! If information about illnesses or illnesses is concealed when submitting the application, the insurance company is not obliged to pay in the event of occupational disability as a result of these illnesses! Good occupational disability insurance policies do without §19VVG, which releases the insurer from liability even in the event of breaches of the obligation to report through no fault of one's own (e.g. congenital but never diagnosed heart defect).
Doctor's order clause:
This clause obliges the policyholder to strictly follow the doctor's orders. This means that foregoing treatment ordered by a doctor can jeopardize insurance coverage. Since this can often lead to cases of unreasonableness (e.g. chemotherapy), more and more insurance companies are now waiving this clause.
Exclusion:
If damage to health already exists before the contract is concluded, the insurer may request that the affected body part be excluded. The benefits of occupational disability are then of course severely limited, which is why early and healthy entry is so important, even with student tariffs.
Professional group:
There are dangerous and less dangerous jobs. Therefore, a scaffolder must of course expect a higher price than an administrative assistant. All professions are classified by insurers into different risk classes, the so-called professional groups. These usually range from 1 to 4 or A to D, with 1 and A representing the cheapest tariffs. By the way, you don't have to specify your profession again if you change your profession. If the rates are good, only the most recently completed profession, scaffolder, will be used, even if you were a low-cost administrative assistant when you applied. Student tariffs for occupational disability are handled very differently.
Biometric risk:
Since the risk of occupational disability depends on many factors, each contract is examined individually and has its own price. In addition to the amount of the pension and the retirement age, the factors influencing the price include occupational group, age, gender and previous health conditions.
Bonus pension:
With this use of surplus, the profits generated are used to guarantee an extra pension. This can be useful if you want to secure large salary increases.
Gross contribution:
This is the actual contribution to be paid for the insurance. Since the money is not needed immediately (ideally never!), the insurer can work with the money and generate surpluses. You can decide for yourself how these surpluses are used. Common uses include immediate contribution deduction, bonus pension and interest-bearing accumulation.
Incapacity clause:
Since incapacity for work does not have to mean occupational disability, future civil servants and students aiming for civil servant status should ensure that these two terms are used interchangeably. The incapacity clause states that dismissal and retirement due to incapacity without further medical examination are also considered occupational incapacity.
Dynamics:
One dynamic is the increase in the insurance contract that was already agreed upon when the contract was concluded. A good choice, especially for student tariffs, because it increases the occupational disability pension slowly and steadily and can be suspended or even canceled entirely if necessary.
Incapacity to work:
Incapacity describes the condition when you are no longer able to work. This means that not only your last job is checked, but also all possible job profiles. Of course, this condition is only achieved with significant illnesses.
Free choice of medical doctors:
Of course, occupational disability should be diagnosed by a doctor of your choice. However, the insurer has the right to have the diagnosis checked by a second doctor. The choice of this doctor should again be yours.
Health check:
The health check is usually carried out with the application. The questions about your health must be answered truthfully. If you already have previous illnesses, more detailed information is often required. When insuring high BU pensions, a medical check, blood tests or an HIV test may also be necessary. Interestingly, different insurers rate the same illnesses differently, which is why it can be very useful to ask several insurers if in doubt.
Waiting period:
The waiting period is a set period of time for which the insurer does not have to pay. If the waiting period is 6 months, the insurance will only pay from the 7th month of the occupational disability. Since many occupational disabilities are only temporary, the waiting period significantly reduces the price. But if in doubt, you have to see for yourself how you can bridge the waiting period financially.
Specific reference:
In the case of a specific referral, the insurer is exempt from paying benefits if you already have another job that corresponds to your previous position in life. Since the decision to return to work rests entirely with the insured person, that's completely fine. After all, it's nice if you collect an occupational disability pension in addition to your own income, but that somehow misses the point of the insurance. In practice, there are hardly any tariffs that do without specific references.
End of benefit age:
The end-of-benefit age refers to the age up to which you can receive the maximum BU pension. Ideally, this is when you reach retirement age. It therefore makes sense to link the end-of-benefit age to the start of retirement provision. This way, you will have a seamless transition as you age, even if you have health issues. Since most occupational disabilities arise in old age, the price logically increases the higher the end-of-benefit age is.
Additional insurance:
Additional insurance is an important issue, especially for students. Since academics often earn little during their studies but then quite well afterwards, the BU protection must be able to grow accordingly. A supplementary insurance option allows the BU pension to be increased without a new health examination. This can be important if illnesses or other illnesses have occurred in the meantime. Student tariffs should definitely be equipped with a good additional insurance option.
Net contribution:
If you choose to deduct your contributions immediately when using the surplus, you will pay significantly less than the original contribution right from the start. This is the net contribution. Since the surpluses already taken into account are not guaranteed, your net contribution may have to be increased up to a maximum of the gross contribution. In practice, however, the surpluses are calculated conservatively and price increases are very rare.
“Section 163 VVG”:
One thing first: There is probably no right or wrong on this point. Paragraph 163 VVG allows the insurer to change the contract under strict legal conditions. This usually involves a price increase above the stated gross premium.
Here's an example: You have occupational disability insurance with insurer X. They have calculated your price precisely so that you don't pay too much and your premium still remains stable. All is well. But then a major accident happens in Germany (earthquake, nuclear accident...) and the number of people unable to work increases rapidly. Of course, the insurer now has to pay many more BU pensions than planned. He now has a choice: either increase the price or go bankrupt.
As far as §163 VVG is concerned, you have the choice: either absolute security via the gross premium (waiver of §163 VVG), or an insurance that protects its members even in extreme cases through price increases.
Need for care:
Good BU insurance should also automatically cover the need for care. For this purpose, the companies have developed their own system for determining the need for care; the statutory nursing care insurance system does not apply.
Forecast period:
It is often not entirely clear at the beginning whether it is a simple illness or an occupational disability. If this condition extends to incapacity for work for more than 6 months, with good insurance, the condition of occupational incapacity is considered fulfilled and payments are made automatically.
Pension amount:
The pension amount should always be based on your current income. Most insurers limit income to 80-90% of net income, but have a supplementary insurance option. This is particularly important for students! After all, the jump in income after studying is often considerable.
An example: Student secures his employment. Of course, he doesn't earn that much yet and therefore agrees on a pension of €750 per month. Additional insurance of 50% is possible in the tariff. After starting his professional life, he now earns €2,000 net, but can only increase his BU pension to a maximum of €1,075!
Risk contribution:
This is the contribution that is actually used to hedge the current risk. Since the risk increases with increasing age, the risk contribution for student tariffs is initially only half of the gross contribution. As you get older, the risk contribution continues to increase and is sometimes even higher than the gross contribution.
Risk premium:
In addition to exclusion, this is the second option for insurers to respond to pre-existing health problems. However, the affected body part is not excluded, which is why a risk surcharge is usually better than exclusion with the premiums remaining the same.
Redemption value:
Since you pay in more at the beginning of the insurance period than is actually needed, a lump sum usually accrues that is reduced again as you get older. This capital amount could be paid out upon termination. However, you should carefully consider whether you should terminate your occupational disability protection as you get older.
Immediate contribution deduction:
With immediate contribution deduction, the surpluses generated from your contributions in the future are used to reduce your contribution from the start. Or to put it another way: cashback from the insurer! This is particularly useful for student tariffs and young professionals, as the money is usually not so easy here.
State insurance:
In contrast to the good old days, the state has largely withdrawn from protecting the workforce. For people born after January 1, 1961, only a disability pension is paid. A distinction is made between half and full disability pension. If you are still available to the labor market for 3-6 hours a day, you are entitled to half the disability pension. If even that is no longer possible, then you get the full pension. But don't be lulled into a false sense of security: even the full disability pension is usually no more than 35% of gross earnings! So it's purely basic security, which is also very difficult to achieve. The rejection rate here is around 50%!
Student rates:
Students can be very different. Law, business administration and architecture students are low-risk professions, while teaching, art or sports students represent a risk that can hardly be calculated. That's why insurers treat students differently. Some companies do not insure students at all, others classify all students into an intermediate professional group, and some then insure the desired profession. For graduates of e.g. B. Law, it therefore makes sense to look for an insurer who immediately insures the profession you want to pursue; Students with “difficult” career goals should definitely take advantage of the student tariffs, because artists, for example, are hardly insurable anymore as working people.
Surpluses:
The insurer can of course work with the contributions you have made. The resulting surpluses will be credited to you. This can take the form of a bonus annuity, interest-bearing accumulation or an immediate payout.
Interest-bearing accumulation:
The part of the gross contribution that exceeds the individual risk contribution is invested with interest. The resulting income is collected and paid out to the insured when the insurance expires. Ideally, the insured person gets their contributions back in this way and has made a small profit. It can also be used as a fund investment.
We at allmaxx inform you as a student about the advantages of occupational disability insurance.
