You'll get to know a new culture, live temporarily with a friendly host family, make new friends from all over the world and learn a foreign language along the way! Going abroad as an au pair is undoubtedly an exciting adventure!
But you should also think about your health and safety. If you fall ill, someone will have to pay for your treatment. What if you accidentally cause expensive damage to your host family's property? Who pays if you have an accident on your bike? And who do you turn to in an emergency?
PROTRIP-WORLD takes care of all of this: health insurance, liability insurance, accident insurance, luggage insurance, 24-hour emergency call and many other services to protect you.
Would you like to go to Australia as an au pair? Then please take a look at our information on au pair insurance in Australia
What's special about PROTRIP-WORLD?
There are many different travel health insurance policies for au pairs, at very different prices. Why should you choose PROTRIP-WORLD? PROTRIP-WORLD has some unique advantages that only a few comparable insurances offer:
-
1. Can be purchased after departure
Travel insurance must usually be taken out before you leave. However, you can also take out PROTRIP-WORLD after your trip has already begun. This is useful if you have forgotten to take out insurance. Please note, however, that there is a waiting period in this case.
-
2. Billing to the exact day
With insurance, it is common for contracts to run on a monthly basis. You have to pay for the whole month, even if you only need the insurance for a few days in that given month. With PROTRIP-WORLD, you pay the premium at the beginning of each month, but if you end your stay abroad in the middle of an (already paid) month and no longer need the insurance, we will refund you the corresponding portion of the monthly premium on the exact day - automatically and without you having to pay any fees.
Of course, you have to let us know the exact date from which you no longer need the insurance. It's quick and easy to do online. Here we explain how to cancel the contract.
-
3. Expandable to complete protection
PROTRIP-WORLD is a travel health insurance that can be expanded by two different insurance combinations:
1. Protect Standard: Personal liability, accident, baggage and assistance insurance for additional € 6,60 per month
2. Protect Complete: Personal liability and intern liability insurance, accident, baggage and assistance insurance for additional € 11,30 per month
With travel health insurance, you are well protected against costs that may arise due to injury or illness. The Protect Standard supplementary package includes other very important insurance policies, and with Protect Complete you get even better protection with more benefits and higher sums insured. Here are the benefits details.
-
4. Also covers bodily injury in the host family
As an au pair, you are part of your host parents' family from an insurance perspective. The problem with this is that liability insurance does not normally cover physical injury to members of your own family. This means that if you accidentally injure the host family's child while playing, this is not covered. PROTRIP-WORLD is the exception here. PROTRIP-WORLD also pays for such personal injury, with an unusually high sum insured of 5 million euros (in the Complete package, 1 million euros in the Standard package).
-
5. Also covers damage to "moveable property"
It is also common for liability insurance to only cover damage to the host family's “immovable property”. This means: things that are permanently installed in the host family's home, e.g. windows or parquet flooring. Damage to “movable property” - i.e. anything that can be carried around - is generally not covered (vases, furniture, laptops, etc.). PROTRIP WORLD liability insurance in the Complete variant covers both immovable and movable property.
-
6. Free cancellation and early termination
PROTRIP-WORLD pays if you go to the doctor because of flu or toothache during your stay abroad. You have a free choice of doctor: whether a general practitioner, a hospital or a specialist.
One of the main activities of an au pair is often looking after the host family's children. And looking after children also means playing with them. It's easy to break something while playing ball - you accidentally hit a window pane or a child's glasses. PROTRIP-WORLD liability insurance pays for both.
Au pair activities also include household tasks. The hot stove plate or red-hot iron can lead to injuries. A common method of transportation for au pairs is cycling - road traffic is also often not without danger. PROTRIP-WORLD health insurance ensures that you or your parents do not have to pay for expensive treatment out of your own pockets in an emergency.
You can get the same thing abroad as at home: appendicitis, a head injury after falling down the stairs, slipping on a wet road on your bike - you have to be taken to hospital by ambulance. This transport has to be paid for, just like your treatment. This is not a problem here at home: of course, your statutory or private health insurance will pay for it. But if this happens abroad, your home health insurance will only pay for part of it or not at all, depending on which country you are in. And who pays for the trip home if you would rather go back home? Or the journey of a parent to visit you in hospital? Answer: PROTRIP-WORLD.
-
What to do in case of a claim?
“Claim” means: If something occurs for which PROTRIP-WORLD pays. In other words: If you get sick and go to the doctor or if you need medication. So what do you have to do in this case? You will receive an invoice for the treatment or medication, and you can simply send it to us online via your mobile phone or computer. We will then reimburse these invoices directly to your bank account.
In many cases, you will have to pay in advance, i.e. you must first pay for the treatment or medication yourself and then send us the invoices. It is also possible for hospitals and doctors to bill us directly. You can find details on this under How are your invoices reimbursed?
You can find advice on what to do in the event of emergencies, illness, accidents and other incidents in the Claims section.
Choose the right contract duration
PROTRIP-WORLD can be concluded for up to 24 months. A normal au pair stay lasts 12 months, but 6 months is also common. Sometimes the stay is terminated prematurely. In other cases, Au pairs often want to stay longer in the host country after the end of their au pair stay. The insurance cover should therefore be flexible in terms of time. This is no problem with PROTRIP-WORLD.
Our tip: Always take out PROTRIP-WORLD for the expected maximum period. If you are not 100% sure how long your stay will last, take out PROTRIP-WORLD for 24 months. Early termination of the contract is possible at any time, completely free of charge and to the day. Any overpayments will be refunded to you free of charge.
-
Why do we recommend the maximum contract duration?
Theoretically, you could simply take out a second contract after the first one expires. The problem is that this would be a new contract, and pre-existing conditions are excluded from private health insurance.
Example: Suppose you are diagnosed with an allergy for the first time during your au pair year and you need regular medication and treatment. PROTRIP-WORLD would cover this. This would not count as a pre-existing condition because the allergy was only diagnosed during the contract period. However, if you want to stay longer in the host country after the au pair year and you sign a second contract, this allergy will be considered a pre-existing condition and PROTRIP-WORLD will no longer cover the costs.
We recommend: take out insurance without a deductible
PROTRIP-WORLD can be taken out with or without a deductible. The deductible is 50 euros per insured event. What does that mean? If you go to the doctor and the treatment costs 300 euros, PROTRIP-WORLD health insurance will pay 250 euros. You will have to pay the remaining 50 euros yourself. This applies per insured event, i.e. for every visit to the doctor.
If you choose the PROTRIP-WORLD variant with deductible, you will save a few euros on the premiums, but after just one or two visits to the doctor (depending on the tariff variant you choose) you will have spent more money on the deductible than you have saved on the premiums.
Consider: During your au pair year, you get a toothache and have to go to the dentist. Another time you have a headache and have to go to the doctor for medication. And in winter you have to go to the doctor again because you have a bad cold. Then you have to pay a total deductible of 150 euros.
That's why we advise you: Take the option without a deductible, then you won't have this worry, because then PROTRIP-WORLD health insurance pays the full amount for every treatment.
Define your areas of responsibility together with the host parents
A common reason for problems with au pair stays: Your host parents may not know exactly what does and does not count as part of an au pair's job. Childcare and light housework are usually part of the au pair job - but not washing the car, gardening or spring cleaning. This doesn't mean that you can't wash the car or help with spring cleaning if you want to.
It often happens that the host family has already had au pairs and expects you to take on the same tasks as your predecessors. They may also have carried out tasks that are not actually part of an au pair's duties. Therefore, your tasks should be recorded in writing before the start of your stay, as well as the working hours and the amount of allowance.
Clarify the car situation with the host parents early
Although PROTRIP-WORLD liability insurance also covers damage to the host family's property, it does not cover the use of the car. If one of your tasks is to use the family car to pick up the children from school, remember to clarify the insurance situation with the host parents beforehand.