Travel insurance and the Schengen visa requirement

What does the Schengen visa require for insurance?

If you apply for a Schengen visa, the EU Visa Code requires proof of travel medical insurance of at least EUR 30 000. The cover must include repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention and emergency hospital treatment or death, and be valid throughout the Schengen states for the whole stay. That amount is the legal minimum.

Olvian is not an insurer, broker, immigration adviser or financial services provider. It passes a person's request to licensed providers, who pay Olvian a fee and contact the person. This guide reports what the published rules say. It does not say which policy to buy, and it cannot promise that a consulate will accept one.

What does Article 15 of the Visa Code say?

Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 810/2009, the Visa Code, is titled "Travel medical insurance". Three paragraphs matter for most travellers.

Paragraph 1. Applicants for a uniform visa for one or two entries must prove that they hold "adequate and valid travel medical insurance". It must cover any expenses which might arise in connection with repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention and/or emergency hospital treatment or death, during their stay or stays in the territory of the Member States.

Paragraph 2. Applicants for a uniform visa for more than two entries (multiple entry) must prove they hold adequate and valid travel medical insurance covering the period of their first intended visit. They must also sign the statement in the application form saying they are aware of the need to have travel medical insurance for subsequent stays.

Paragraph 3. The insurance must be valid throughout the territory of the Member States and cover the entire period of the person's intended stay or transit. The minimum coverage is EUR 30 000. Where a visa with limited territorial validity covers the territory of more than one Member State, the cover must be valid at least in those Member States.

The Article also contains exemptions for particular groups, for example holders of diplomatic passports. If you think one applies to you, ask the consulate; this guide does not cover them.

What does a Schengen consulate in South Africa say?

Consulates publish their own checklists, and they track the Article. The Spanish consulate in Cape Town, for example, states that coverage must be "of at least €30,000 or its equivalent in local currency". It says the insurance must cover the costs of repatriation for medical reasons or death, as well as urgent healthcare and/or emergency hospital treatment, for the entire stay and throughout the Schengen area. For a multiple-entry visa, it says the insurance must be valid for the first planned entry and that the applicant must undertake to purchase insurance for future trips.

Other Schengen states have their own pages and visa centres. They may add practical requirements, such as the form in which proof must be presented. Use the page of the state that will decide your visa, not a general summary from a third party.

How do I know a policy will meet the requirement?

You do not know until the policy wording and the consulate's checklist are put side by side. Two checks help.

1. Read the wording against Article 15. Does the policy state its territory, its dates of cover, a medical limit that meets the minimum, and the three heads of cover named in Article 15(1)? A policy summary or certificate usually shows these.
2. Ask the licensed provider. The provider who contacts you can say whether their policy is written to meet the wording the consulate publishes. Ask for the answer in writing, with the certificate that shows the period, territory and limit.

If the consulate has a different or additional demand, it will say so on its checklist.

What does a travel policy cover, in law?

The Insurance Act 18 of 2017 groups insurance into classes. Class 15 in Table 2 of Schedule 2 is travel. For personal lines it is described as covering "damage or loss resulting from" cancellation, interruption, loss of property (including baggage), or other unforeseen events before, while and after travelling, and "a death, disability or health event while travelling in a country in which the insured person is not ordinarily resident".

That description tells you what the class is for. It does not say what any one policy pays. Each policy has its own benefits, limits, excesses and exclusions, and they are different from policy to policy. The Policyholder Protection Rules (Short-term Insurance), 2017 require the insurer to tell you the significant ones, including any limit on the amount of cover, any waiting period and any exclusion relating to certain diseases or medical conditions (Rule 11.1 and Rule 11.4.2(g)).

Our guide on medical emergencies abroad goes through what to read in the medical section.

What if I travel more than once a year?

The Visa Code deals with it in the multiple-entry rule above: proof for the first intended visit and a signed acknowledgment for later stays. How a policy is structured for several trips, for example as one policy for each journey or one that covers a number of trips during a period, is the policy's business. The licensed provider can describe it. Whether a single policy meets the consulate's checklist for each trip is a question to put to both the provider and the consulate.

What about visas for other countries?

Olvian only states a requirement where an embassy or consulate has published it. This guide has verified only the Schengen rules. Other destinations may ask for proof of insurance, or may not. Check the website of that country's embassy or visa centre for your trip, and do not rely on a general list.

What are my rights once I have bought a policy?

The Policyholder Protection Rules (Short-term Insurance), 2017 apply to a travel policy issued as short-term insurance by a licensed insurer. Three of them are worth knowing before a trip.

• Written information. Rule 11.5.1 requires the insurer, no later than 31 days after the policy starts, to give you evidence of cover, details of all exclusions and limitations, the right to claim and the contact details for notifying a claim. For a trip that starts soon, ask for the certificate and the claim contact immediately, rather than waiting.
• Cooling-off. Rule 4.2 lets you cancel within 14 days after receiving the policy contract, but only if the policy term is longer than 31 days and no benefit has been paid or claimed and no insured event has occurred. A short single-trip policy may therefore fall outside it. Ask the provider how it applies to yours.
• Claims and complaints. Rule 17.6.3 sets out what an insurer must tell you if it turns a claim down, and Rule 18 requires a complaints process. If you are still not satisfied, the National Financial Ombud Scheme says it can look at a complaint, free of charge, after you have lodged it with the insurer.

Our guide on cancelling, claims and complaints covers these in more detail.

What should I ask the licensed provider?

1. Does your policy include repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention, and emergency hospital treatment or death?
2. What is the medical limit shown on the certificate, and in which currency?
3. Does the cover run for my whole stay, including the days I travel, and across every Schengen state I will visit?
4. What are the exclusions for medical conditions I already have, and how are they described?
5. If my visa is refused, what does the policy say about cancelling or a refund?
6. What documents will you give me for the visa application?

Sources

Checked on 31 October 2026. Olvian is not a financial services provider and this guide is information, not advice.

• Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (Visa Code), Article 15: travel medical insurance, EUR-Lex.
• Consulate General of Spain in Cape Town: Schengen visas
• Insurance Act 18 of 2017, Schedule 2, Table 2: classes of non-life insurance business
• National Financial Ombud Scheme
• Policyholder Protection Rules (Short-term Insurance), 2017, Rule 11: disclosure, Government Notice 1433, Government Gazette 41329, 15 December 2017, as amended by Notice 996, Government Gazette 41928, 28 September 2018.