What a DNV health-insurance policy has to cover
The requirements are real and they are strict. They also only apply to people who actually need private insurance, so check that first, then hold your policy against what this page sets out.
First: does this apply to you?
If Spanish Social Security will cover you, or the documents you are bringing from home expressly include healthcare in Spain, you may not need a private policy at all.
It is worth a few minutes on this before spending money on anything. Broadly, DNV applicants arrive at one of three answers, and only the third means you need a private policy:
- You will be covered through the Spanish system. Perhaps your employer registers you, or you register yourself as self-employed. Where that applies, your registration paperwork is what shows it.
- You are staying in another country's system. An international agreement can keep you there — but the question is then whether your documents show that arrangement covers healthcare in Spain, which is not the same as showing which country's rules apply to you.
- Neither of those covers you. Then a private policy is what your application relies on, and everything below is about what that policy has to do.
Households often split across those three answers, which is normal rather than a sign that something has gone wrong.
The rest of this page is for people who do need private insurance.
What we can state, and what you have to check
The name on a policy does not tell you whether it meets the requirements, and we do not publish an enumerated list of coverage criteria: the official wording varies between documents, and a list we cannot cite exactly would be a worse guide than none. Check the current criteria for the office you are applying through before you rely on any policy.
What this page can set out, and does below, is the part that does not depend on that wording: what fails the standard, what the evidence itself has to look like, where and for how long a policy has to cover you, who the insurer has to be, and what changes when your family comes with you.
What some consulates ask for on top
Some consular checklists describe additional expectations — for example, wording about coverage without limits. These are instructions from that particular consulate, not the central rules. Check the current checklist for the consulate or office you are actually applying through — its instructions come first.
What repatriation is — and isn't
Repatriation cover appears in many policies and in some older visa guides. It is not stated as a general DNV health-insurance requirement in current central guidance, and we do not present it as universally required. If a specific receiving post expressly requires it, that post's current checklist is the authority — check yours before relying on either assumption.
What fails the standard
A policy can be perfectly good and still fail, if its documentation does not show what it needs to show. Whoever assesses your application sees the paperwork, not the policy — so the question to ask is not "is this good cover?" but "does my documentation prove it?"
The evidence itself
The policy must be provable — in practice, insurer-issued documentation naming each insured person, showing the policy dates and the characteristics above. One rule prevents most problems: evidence describes the policy you actually hold, never the policy you asked for.
That distinction is worth labouring, because almost every documentation problem is a version of it. A quotation, an email confirming an application, a screenshot of a plan comparison and a marketing summary all describe something. None of them describes the policy in force.
What to have in your hands
- Documentation issued by the insurer, not by you and not by a comparison site.
- Every insured person named on it. If somebody is relying on this policy and their name is not on the paper, they are not evidenced by it.
- The dates the cover runs between, matching what you have told anybody else about when you are arriving.
- The plan you actually bought, named as the insurer names it, which is not always how it is marketed.
Two habits that save trouble later
Keep a note of what each document showed and when you obtained it. Two lines per document. A renewal, a change of job or a question a year from now is far easier to answer from a note than from memory.
Read your own file the way somebody else will read it. If your insurance documents point one way and something else you have submitted points another, that contradiction is visible on the face of the file, and it is much cheaper to notice yourself.
Where the policy covers you, and for how long
Two things on a policy schedule are worth reading carefully before anything else, because they are the two that are hardest to change afterwards: where the cover applies and when it starts and ends.
Where it covers you
A policy sold in one country does not automatically cover treatment in another. If you are moving to Spain, the cover has to work in Spain, for the whole time you are living there, and not only for trips. This sounds obvious and is still one of the most common problems we see: an existing policy at home, renewed out of habit, that was never written for someone resident somewhere else.
Read the schedule for the territory it names. If it names your home country, or names Spain only as a destination for temporary visits, it is not doing the job your application needs.
When it starts
Policies are written for a term, and the term matters as much as the cover. Ask yourself three questions and write the answers down:
- When do I actually need cover to begin? Not when you hope to travel — the date your application is going to be assessed against.
- How long does the term run? A policy that expires part-way through the period you are applying for raises an obvious question, and it is better to answer it before somebody else asks it.
- What happens at renewal? Cover renews on the insurer's terms and premiums change with age and with the plan. Knowing that at the outset is easier than discovering it a year later.
Start dates are one of the things we go through with you when preparing a quote, precisely because getting them wrong is expensive and getting them right costs nothing.
Who the insurer is, and what they will give you
Applications are assessed on documents, so the practical question is not only "is this good cover?" but "can this insurer produce the paperwork, in the form it is wanted, when I need it?" Those are different questions, and the second one is the one people forget.
Before you commit to any policy, it is worth establishing:
- What documentation the insurer issues for visa applications, and how long it takes to arrive. Insurers who deal with visa applicants routinely tend to have a standard document; insurers who do not may have to be asked, and asking takes time you may not have.
- Whether every person is named on it. A document naming one person evidences one person. Anyone else relying on that policy needs to appear on it by name.
- What the document actually says about the cover — dates, territory and the plan you hold — rather than a marketing summary of the plan you were shown.
- Which language it is issued in, and whether the office you are applying through expects anything else.
Where a checklist mentions the insurer's own status or authorisation, that is a criterion to check against the current instructions for the office you apply through rather than something to assume from a brand name. We will tell you what Sanitas issues and when, and we help you get it.
If your family is coming with you
Every person on an application has their own healthcare situation, and it is established with that person's own documents. Nobody inherits an answer from the main applicant. That single rule prevents most family problems, and ignoring it causes most of them.
In practice that means:
- Work through the household one person at a time — you, a spouse or partner, each child, and any dependent parent. Write the answer next to each name.
- Some members may need private cover when others do not. A household can legitimately end up with different answers for different people, and a file that reflects that is a correct file, not an inconsistent one.
- Everyone relying on a policy must be named on its documentation. "The family is covered" is not evidence; a document listing four names is.
- Children and adult dependants are not the same case. An adult child is not a minor's situation with a bigger number attached.
How to work through a family application, person by person →
Travel insurance and residence health insurance are different products
Travel insurance is built for trips. It typically runs for a fixed number of days, assumes you have a home you are returning to, and is oriented around emergencies and getting you back rather than around ongoing healthcare where you live. Residence health insurance is built for people who live somewhere.
They are not tiers of the same product, and the difference is not price. If you are moving to Spain to live and work, the question to ask about any policy is whether it was written for a resident or for a traveller.
A checklist you can actually work through
Not a list of documents — those differ by office and change — but the questions worth answering about whatever you are holding.
- Do I need a private policy at all? Answer this first, before comparing anything. It depends on how you work and how you will be covered by Social Security.
- Is everyone who needs cover on the policy, by name? Check the document, not the conversation you had about it.
- Does it cover me in Spain, as a resident? Read the territory on the schedule.
- Do the dates line up with my application? Start date, term, and what happens when it renews.
- Do I hold the insurer's own documentation, not a quote or a summary? A quote describes a policy you might buy.
- Does the document describe the policy I actually hold? Plan name, dates, people, territory.
- Have I checked the current checklist for the office I am applying through? Its instructions come first, and they change.
- Is anything on my file contradicted by anything else on my file? A document saying one thing and a declaration saying another is visible to whoever reads it.
The problems that cause delay
These are the practical ones, in the order we see them.
- Buying before checking. The most expensive ordinary mistake: a policy bought by somebody whose application did not need one. The two questions that settle it cost nothing to answer.
- A policy written for the wrong place. Cover that works at home, or on holiday, but not where you are going to live.
- A quote used as evidence. A quotation is not a policy and does not evidence one.
- Missing names. One person's document used for a whole household.
- Dates that do not line up with the period the application concerns.
- A file that contradicts itself. Insurance documents pointing one way and a declared work situation pointing another. Resolve it before submitting rather than hoping nobody reads both.
- Advice borrowed from a different visa. Requirements and evidence differ between routes, and copying across is a reliable way to prepare the wrong file.
- Leaving it late. Documents have to be requested, issued and sometimes corrected. Everything above is easier with time in hand.
Hold your situation against the standard
Need a private policy? We'll check your household against the standard this page sets out and recommend qualifying Sanitas cover — only for the people who need it.
Common questions
What does “comparable to public healthcare” mean?
Comprehensive cover across Spain of the kind the public system provides.
How do I tell whether a policy covers me in Spain?
Read the policy schedule rather than the brochure. It names the territory the cover applies in, the term it runs for and the people it covers. If it names your home country, or names Spain only for temporary visits, it was not written for somebody living here.
Can I use a quote as evidence?
No. A quotation describes a policy you might buy. What evidences cover is the insurer's own documentation for the policy you actually hold, naming each person and showing the dates.
Are coverage limits allowed?
Central guidance and consulate wording differ; see the section above. The current checklist for the office you apply through decides.
Does my whole family need to be on the policy?
Only the people who need it. Everyone on an application has their own healthcare situation, established with their own documents, and a household can legitimately end up with different answers for different members. How to work through a family, person by person →
Isn't travel insurance enough?
Travel insurance is written for trips: a fixed number of days, an assumption that you are going home, and an emphasis on emergencies and repatriation. Residence health insurance is written for people who live somewhere. They are different products rather than tiers of one product. The difference in full →
Is repatriation required?
Not as a universal standard — see above.
Do these rules apply to renewals?
The requirements apply whenever a private policy is what you are relying on, whether that is a first application or a renewal.
When should I sort the insurance out?
Sooner than most people think. Documents have to be requested, issued and occasionally corrected, and start dates need to line up with the period your application concerns. Every problem described here is cheaper to fix with time in hand.