Au pair insurance: what, when and who pays
Your au pair's insurance comes in two parts with three deadlines. This is how the chain works, from the application before departure to the healthcare allowance.
An au pair's insurance consists of two parts that often get mixed up: the au pair insurance that must be arranged before departure, and the Dutch basic health insurance that only follows after arrival. Confuse the two and you miss a deadline. This is how the chain works.
Part 1: the au pair insurance, before departure
The au pair insurance is a package built for the au pair situation. It typically covers liability, accidents and repatriation, and bridges the medical coverage until the basic health insurance starts. In practice the host family arranges it and the premium sits on the family's side of the costs; some agencies file the application on the family's behalf. Expect around 30 to 60 euros per month.
The timing is strict. Apply for the policy 2 to 4 weeks before departure, and make sure coverage starts before your au pair leaves the home country. Otherwise the journey itself, including layovers and arrival, is uninsured. This is the deadline families miss most often, because it falls before the arrival date while every other deadline starts after it.
Part 2: the basic health insurance, within 4 months
After arrival your au pair takes out a Dutch basic health insurance. It must start within 4 months of arrival. That requires a citizen service number (BSN), which your au pair only receives after registering at the municipality (BRP). So the order is fixed: first BRP registration, then BSN, then the health insurance.
With the BSN and a DigiD your au pair can then apply for healthcare allowance, which compensates a large part of the monthly premium. A Dutch bank account is practically required for that as well.
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The chain at a glance
- No later than 2 to 4 weeks before departure: apply for the au pair insurance, with a start date before the departure date.
- Within 5 days of arrival: register at the municipality (BRP), after which the BSN follows.
- Within 4 months of arrival: the basic health insurance must start.
- After that: apply for a DigiD, open a bank account and apply for healthcare allowance.
The au pair insurance keeps running alongside the basic health insurance: they complement each other rather than replace each other. Which parts you still need once the basic insurance runs differs per policy, so put that question to the insurer when you take the policy out.
What an au pair costs in total, including these insurances, is covered in how much an au pair costs in the Netherlands.
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