We as an internship agency are currently and recently receiving many questions from students regarding the risks of making a trip and / or doing an internship in Spain at the moment and in the situation Spain is in now. There are different stories about insurance and many young people do not know what they can and cannot insure for. If you decide to leave for Spain, it is of course nice to know where you stand in terms of risks and insurance. What risks are there? What can you be insured for? And what about code yellow, orange and red?
Time for clarity!
JoHo
We thought it was important to involve an expert in order to get all the facts straight and to get a clear picture of the real situation with regard to insurance. We talked to Lisalotte, an employee at JoHo, an organization that has been helping Dutch people for years with all kinds of matters related to traveling and staying abroad, such as internships, volunteer work, gap years, emigration and so on. JoHo also offers expertise in the field of insurance.
Code yellow, orange and red
Lisalotte tells us that there are two travel insurance policies that also offer ‘normal’ coverage with code orange. So if you leave for Spain at a time when it is code yellow there and the situation should unexpectedly change to code orange, then just like with code yellow there is nothing wrong and you will be covered by the insurance as it would normally happen . So you don’t have to worry about a lack of support that you might need at that moment.
The statement that insurance against code orange is not possible has therefore been disproved. According to Lisalotte, these insurance policies are affordable and specially tailored to the needs of students. One less worry! For information about insurances regarding code red, see the page about negative travel advice.
Repatriation
It is important to know that repatriation, or returning to one’s own country, is often not fully covered. Extra travel costs due to an accident (illness or death) are covered. Insurers handle repatriation differently and it therefore depends on your insurance whether you are covered on certain points or not. For more information about this, see the page about repatriation.
If you have to or want to leave the country due to a changed travel advice or decision by (local) government, this is often not covered by travel insurance. You have to pay for this yourself. How do you take this into account now? Very simple: you put some extra money aside in advance in case you have to go back to your home country. Obviously this is not about thousands of euros. A ticket from Malaga to the Netherlands normally costs a maximum of two hundred euros, so keep that amount in mind.
School and Erasmus
Also good to know: Erasmus+ continues to subsidize students for internships within Europe and therefore also in Spain. The following applies here: with code yellow you can travel ‘normally’ without any problems. Most schools also do not want to deny students their internship abroad, provided they are aware of the situation and the possible risks.
If you still have specific questions regarding insurance, please contact JoHo.
In conclusion, we can say that there is no problem with regard to insurance, subsidies or school. You can simply insure yourself, and this is especially easy and affordable for students. No more arguments not to go, so… Grab your chance!
