You can switch to private insurance during your studies only through the exemption from compulsory insurance. You apply to your health insurer within three months of the start of compulsory insurance. If this deadline has passed, you usually stay in statutory insurance until a new trigger arises, for example a change in your status. A minimum income is not a condition for the exemption.
The key points at a glance
- As a student you reach private insurance through the exemption under section 8 SGB V. The compulsory insurance income limit for employees plays no role here.
- The deadline is three months from the start of compulsory insurance. A switch in any semester is not provided for.
- New options arise with a change in status, for example after deregistration or with new compulsory insurance.
- The exemption is irrevocable and generally applies for the whole course of study.
Can you switch to private insurance during your studies?
Yes, but only within the framework of the exemption. Anyone enrolled at a state or state-recognised university is compulsorily insured by statutory insurance, unless a higher-priority insurance exists. On application, the health insurer releases you from this duty. The exemption takes effect when you prove that you are otherwise covered in case of illness, in practice through a private contract.
The timing is fixed, because the deadline depends on the start of compulsory insurance. The normal case is the start of your studies. The article switching to PKV at the start of your studies (in German) explains this timeline, and the article on the exemption application to your health insurer (in German) covers the application itself. The steps from application to contract are set out in switching to private insurance as a student (in German).
What options are there during your studies?
Your options depend on where you currently stand. The following overview shows which routes apply in which case:
| Your situation | Route to private insurance |
|---|---|
| Compulsory insurance began less than three months ago | Exemption application to your health insurer, proof of private cover |
| Deadline has passed, and you continue studying | No application after the deadline is provided for. Whether anything is possible in your case is for your health insurer to clarify |
| Family insurance ends, and compulsory student insurance begins | The three-month deadline runs from the start of the duty. Your health insurer confirms the exact start |
| Second degree after an interruption of more than one month | New compulsory insurance. Clarify the new deadline with your health insurer |
| Dropping out or deregistration | Leaving the follow-on insurance with proof of other cover |
| Doctorate after completing your degree | No compulsory student insurance. With a scholarship, voluntary statutory or private insurance, with a post as an employee, compulsory insurance |
Can you apply for the exemption later as a student?
Within the three months, yes. After that the law does not provide for an application any more. The effect depends on whether you have already used benefits. If you have not drawn any benefits from the insurer by the time you apply, the exemption applies retroactively from the start of compulsory insurance. Otherwise it begins at the start of the month after the application.
The deadline is set out in section 8(2) SGB V. If you have missed it, speak to your health insurer immediately. It can assess whether anything is still possible in your case.
What changes with a change of course or university?
When you change university, your insurance status is reassessed and reported. When you change health insurer, the new insurer informs the university.
If you change your course and deregister for it, the following applies to a change of subject (in German): if you re-enrol at a state or state-recognised university within a month after the end of a semester, deregistration does not end your membership. If more than one month passes in between, compulsory insurance may begin again. For people who are already exempted, a separate limit applies: the exemption continues as long as the studies are not interrupted for at least one month. A leave semester does not interrupt them.
How does a change in status affect your options?
During your studies, these changes in status occur:
- End of family insurance: it applies during study up to 25 and up to a total income of 565 euros a month (2026), or 603 euros for a minijob. If one of these limits is exceeded, it ends and compulsory student insurance applies.
- Working student with more than 20 hours: if you regularly work more than 20 hours a week over the long term, you generally count as an employee and are compulsorily insured as one. The exemption under section 8(1) no. 5 SGB V applies to the duty that arises through enrolment or a compulsory internship.
- Dropping out: compulsory student insurance ends with the semester of your last enrolment or re-enrolment, if you have been deregistered by then. After that, membership continues voluntarily.
Example: Ben drops out of his studies. His insurer points out that he can continue voluntarily. He can leave within two weeks of this notice, but only with proof of other cover, such as a private contract. Without that proof, he remains voluntarily insured with a statutory insurer.
Can you switch to private insurance during the legal traineeship?
Whether and how you can switch to private insurance during the traineeship depends on the status set out in your appointment notice. Civil servant trainees are generally civil servants on probation, and insure themselves with private or voluntary statutory insurance plus state allowance (Beihilfe). Legal trainees are, depending on the state, civil servants on probation or in a public-law training relationship. In a training relationship, statutory health insurance is compulsory, without entitlement to state allowance. Which applies to you is set out in your appointment notice.
How strongly does private insurance bind you?
The exemption cannot be revoked. It normally applies for the whole course of study, as long as you do not interrupt it for at least one month. A return to statutory insurance is generally possible only after your studies, for example through employment subject to compulsory insurance below the annual earnings limit of 6,450 euros a month (2026). A minijob is not enough. If you would only become compulsorily insured after your 55th birthday, you may remain exempt under certain conditions, which generally rules out a return to statutory insurance.
A private contract that meets your insurance obligation can only be cancelled if you have an equivalent contract with another insurer. The cancellation takes effect only if you prove seamless follow-on cover within two months. If you become compulsorily insured by statute, you can give notice within three months, retroactively to the start of the duty, if you prove that the duty arose.
Also expect changes to contributions. Insurers review contributions at least once a year and can adjust them. How to respond is described in the article on adjustments to PKV contributions (in German).
As a comparison for the statutory side, in 2026 students under 23 pay about 143 euros a month and childless students from 23 pay about 148 euros (with the average additional contribution of 2.9%). The article calculating the PKV contribution (in German) explains what determines the private contribution. The calculation over many years is in whether PKV is worth it during your studies (in German).
Does the exemption also apply to pension insurance?
No. The exemption under section 8 SGB V concerns health insurance. If you work as a working student, pension insurance duty remains. The contribution is 18.6 percent and is paid half by you and half by your employer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still switch to private insurance in a later semester?
An application for exemption is provided for only within three months of the start of compulsory insurance. In a later semester, a switch is therefore possible only with a new trigger, such as a change in status. If in doubt, ask your health insurer when your deadline began.
Do I need a minimum income to take out private insurance?
Not for the exemption as a student. The income limit of 6,450 euros a month (2026) applies to employees. A private contract, however, requires that an insurer accepts you after the health questions and that you can pay the contribution.
How do I switch back to statutory insurance?
Usually only after your studies, for example through employment subject to compulsory insurance below the annual earnings limit. A second degree after an interruption of more than one month can also lead back into statutory insurance. A minijob is not enough.
What happens to my private insurance when I move to a new semester?
Nothing. The exemption applies to the course of study as a whole, not to individual semesters. If you interrupt your studies for at least one month, its effect ends. A leave semester does not count as an interruption. For re-enrolment, you must still prove to the university that you are insured.
So what do you do now?
- Ask your health insurer when your compulsory insurance began.
- Count three months from that date. If you are within the deadline, plan the anonymous risk enquiry, the tariff comparison and the application.
- If you are outside the deadline, check whether a change in status is due, and speak to your insurer.
- Decide only once you have weighed the irrevocability and the later contribution risks against the benefits.
If you want to talk through your situation, you will find the way to advice on the Academycon homepage.
You can read reviews of us on ProvenExpert, Trustlocal and Trustindex. Academycon was also mentioned, among other places, in a report in VersicherungsJournal (in German). An overview of all mentions is on the press page (in German).
Related articles
- Switching to private insurance as a student (in German)
- Is PKV worth it during your studies? (in German)
- Calculating the PKV contribution (in German)
- PKV contribution adjustments (in German)
Last updated: October 2026. This guide is general information, not individual advice. The German version is authoritative.
