In Denmark, the employers are obligated to take out occupational injury insurance.

Occupational injury insurance
Aalborg University's employed staff is covered for worker’s compensation (personal on the job injury) and property damage while at work.

Aalborg University (AAU) provides personal on-the-job injury insurance. This will cover you as an AAU employee if you sustain an injury during working hours at AAU.

Guest researchers and guest students are not covered by this insurance. We recommend all guests to take out private insurance to cover you, if you sustain any injury during your visit at AAU.

Please note that it is your responsibility to take out private insurance in areas such as health, travel and personal liability in order to cover you while you are living in Denmark.

Important: AAU’s insurance does not cover your leisure time.

Accident insurance provides coverage if you have an accident, e.g. crash your car or fall down the stairs in your spare time.

During working hours, you are covered by the AAU work insurance (see section about AAU insurance) if you are an employee of AAU (please note that guests are not covered). With most insurance companies, your level of injury must be at least 5% for you to be entitled to compensation. Dental damage is normally also covered by accident insurance. Some companies also cover spectacles.

Often, you can choose whether the insurance will provide 24-hour coverage – including when you are at work – or only non-work coverage. You can also choose if your family should receive a pay-out, if you die in an accident.

If you have a car or a motorcycle, it is a legal requirement to have third-party liability insurance. This covers you if you cause injury to other persons or damage to other persons’ vehicles. Fully comprehensive insurance also covers damage to your own car as a result of a traffic accident, theft, vandalism or fire.

Read more about bringing your car and converting your driving license. 

Home insurance covers all the items in an ordinary home, i.e. furniture, clothes, computers, bicycles, garden equipment, as well as items that you have borrowed or hired.

A home insurance policy covers items that are stolen or damaged by fire, water or vandalism. Furthermore, it usually includes third-party liability insurance, if you cause injury to another person or damage another person’s belongings.

With some insurance companies, home insurance also covers identity fraud, i.e. if someone misuses your passport, credit card, health insurance certificate or driving license.

Many insurance companies also provide an option to buy extended coverage, e.g. if you have a lot of electronic equipment, jewellery or a particularly expensive bicycle.

The insurance covers the liability to pay compensation that you as a private person may have in case you or a member of your household cause injury to others or damage their belongings. The Danish insurance companies have various offers and prices.

Contact an insurance company for more information. In Danish, liability insurance is “ansvarsforsikring”.

You are required by law to take out a liability insurance policy if you own a car. This insurance covers damages to other persons and their property. In addition, it is possible to obtain a comprehensive insurance policy that covers damages to your car and theft. If you have a loan in the car, you will often be required to take out comprehensive insurance coverage.

Read more about Bringing Your Car.

IMPORTING  PETS

Please note that if you have a dog, it is a legal requirement to have a dog insurance that includes third-party liability insurance.

All dogs, cats and ferrets must have a special animal passport to document that the animal has been vaccinated against rabies.

We recommend you to read the Danish Veterinary Authorities' guidelines.

HOLIDAY HOME, CARAVAN OR OTHER PROPERTY

It is also recommended to obtain insurance if you have a holiday home, caravan or other property that you want to protect.

Many people also choose to take out travel insurance that provides cover for e.g. delayed luggage and medical treatment abroad.

Please note that in Denmark there is a distinction between unemployment benefits and social benefits. Unlike many other countries, unemployment insurance in Denmark is voluntary. Thus, you are not automatically insured against unemployment if you lose your job at AAU and you will not automatically receive unemployment benefits in case you lose your job.

If you want to obtain unemployment insurance, you must apply for admission to an unemployment insurance fund (A-kasse). Unemployment insurance funds are private associations of employees or self-employed persons organised for the sole purpose of ensuring economic support in the event of unemployment.

The unemployment benefits are called "dagpenge" in Danish. 

Note that for most non-EU citizens, it is difficult to make use of the unemployment insurance system, as you may not be eligible for unemployment benefits, if you lose your job, because your permit to live in Denmark is based on your job.

Membership and requirements
How to become a member of an unemployment insurance fund 
In order to join an unemployment insurance fund (A-kasse) you must sign up online by filling in a form on the website of the A-kasse you have chosen. If you are in doubt, which A-kasse suits you best, you can have a look at the A-kasser-dk's website, where you also find links for online signup forms of the different A-kasser.

Requirements for being eligible for benefits 
In order to be eligible for unemployment benefits, you:

1. must have been member of an A-kasse for at least one year.
2. must have earned/ have had an income of at least DKK 238,512 before tax during the last 3 years (in total).
    

Citizens of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland 
If you are a citizen of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you may be entitled to unemployment benefits.

The EU-Regulation no. 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems, states that EU-citizens must be treated like Danish citizens in regards to unemployment insurance.

Due to the EU cooperation in the field of social security, an EU-citizen can only be a member of an unemployment insurance (A-kasse) in one EU country at a time. The main rule is that you have to be covered by the unemployment insurance system of the country where you work.

What to be aware of as an EU/EEA-Citizen
If you come from another EU/EEA country, you can retain earned rights (membership period and working period) from your home country's unemployment insurance scheme. This requires the following:

You must sign up with a Danish A-kasse no later than 8 weeks after you have given up your unemployment insurance in your home country.
Within the 8 weeks, you must begin work in Denmark of at least 296 hours, and the work must be carried out within 3 months.

We recommend that you contact your home country's unemployment fund to ensure that you comply with all the rules, before you deregister from your home country's unemployment fund.

PhD students from EU/EEA Countries
If you have a PhD-contract, you have two options to become a member of and receive benefits from an A-kasse.

1. You can become a member of an A-kasse like other salaried persons. You must pay the normal membership fee, and you must fulfil the requirements (see requirements for being eligible for benefits above).
2. If you have not been member of an A-kasse for at least 1 year when you finish your PhD, then you can still get unemployment benefits according to the special favourable requirements for graduates.

Read more about unemployment benefits for graduates. 
 

Citizens of a non-EU/EEA Country
For people from non-EU/EEA countries, unemployment insurance may not be relevant or even allowed depending on the type of residence and work permit you hold. Contact the Danish Immigration Authorities for further information on your permit. 

In general, obtaining unemployment insurance is only relevant if you have a work permit, which is not limited to a specific job.

What to be aware of as a non-EU/EEA-citizen
As a non-EU/EEA citizen it is not possible to transfer earned rights from an unemployment insurance scheme from your own country.

Even if, before coming to Denmark, you have been living in another EU/EEA-country and have contributed to unemployment insurance in another EU-/EEA country, you cannot transfer your rights to the Danish unemployment insurance scheme.

This is due to the fact that Denmark has a provision stating that Denmark only accepts rights of unemployment benefits from EU-nationals.

If you are coming from one of the Nordic countries, read more in the text below “Citizens who have lived in the Nordic countries”.

Employed researchers
Employed researchers with a subsequent job search period included in their residence and work permit can receive unemployment benefits during the job search period, if they fulfil the A-kasse membership requirements. However, if employed researchers lose their job before time, they also lose their right to stay in Denmark legally, and thus cannot benefit from unemployment benefit.

PhD students from non-EU/EEA Countries
As a PhD student, you are not allowed to receive unemployment benefits during the job search period of your residence and work permit.

However, as a foreign national, who has completed a Danish PhD degree, you can apply for a residence permit with the aim of establishing yourself in Denmark (an establishment card). If you have received a residence permit under the establishment card scheme, you can legally stay in Denmark and you can accept offers of employment with one day's notice. Contact the Danish Immigration Authorities for further information.

Therefore, it may be relevant for establishment cardholders to apply for membership of an A-kasse as you may be eligible to receive dagpenge, if you fulfil the requirements.  However, be aware that you as an establishment card holder are not allowed to receive unemployment benefits after the graduate rule.

 

Citizens who have lived in the Nordic countries 
The Nordic Countries - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland -  have agreed to treat all people (EU/EAA or non-EU/EAA) moving between the Nordic countries as EU-nationals in relation to unemployment insurance and other social security matters. This is in accordance with the Nordic convention on social security (from 2014).

This means that it is possible to transfer earned rights according to the unemployment insurance scheme between the Nordic countries.

The only requirement is that you have been covered by the social security rules in one of the Nordic countries (i.e. that you have been subject to the legislation there).

 

Guide about A-kasse and dagpenge
At the A-kasse website you can find a comprehensive guide about A-kasse membership and unemployment benefit.

You can ask and get answers in english from A-kasser.dk Q&A.

Guest researchers and guest students are not covered by the insurance scheme offered by Aalborg University. We recommend all guests to take out private insurance to cover you, if you sustain any injury during your visit at AAU. 

Please note that in order to take out insurance in Denmark, usually you need a CPR number (civil registration number). However, you cannot register for a CPR number if your stay is less than three months; consequently, it is difficult to take out private insurances in Denmark.  

Thus, we strongly recommend you to take out travel insurance before coming to Denmark.