Is S14 insurance in Germany too good to be true for PhD students?

they might like to include this page in their review, not exactly the address you would expect of a geniune german organisation with a .de domain website

https://stu-insurance.de/imprint/

But honestly it almost feels “too cheap” compared to the other options.

Anyway, I doubt this information is very helpful. As a student from the EU, you simply keep your existing health insurance; as a student from a non-EU country, you have to enroll in one of the statutory health insurance plans, otherwise you won’t be registered. You can look up more details on the DAAD website.

If I understand your question it seems that you will be starting a university PhD program in Europe soon and will want to travel around too. If that is correct then the university will tell you what you have to do to enroll, including how to sign up for health insurance coverage.

Yeah, public insurance isn't really an option for me as a self-funded PhD student. My university only said I need German private health insurance.
A few people I know went with Care College, which is also a Care Concept product. S14 looks like it's from the same company, and stu-insurance seems to be just the broker.
I'll probably call Care Concept tomorrow and get the details straight from them. Will report back if I learn anything useful.

Yeah, public insurance isn't really an option for me as a self-funded PhD student. My university only said I need German private health insurance.

If you are a self-funded PhD student, you can either voluntarily enroll in a public health insurance plan or purchase private insurance. However, the coverage provided by the private insurance must match that of public health insurance so that you do not end up relying on public assistance in the event of illness. You will not be able to obtain a visa or enroll at the university with just cheap travel insurance. So check the benefits of statutory insurance (e.g., on the websites of Techniker Krankenkasse, Barmer, or AOK) and compare the price of private insurance against these criteria.

is anybody going to read the link I gave and see the real problem......?

Just a quick update in case anyone is interested.

I called Care Concept in Germany today. They confirmed that stu-insurance is run by one of their authorized Chinese partners, so the Care Concept products listed there are legitimate.
They also told me that S14 is specifically intended for PhD students and language school students under 35. Apparently it's only offered through selected partner agencies, which is why I couldn't find it on the main Care Concept website. But they confirmed that it's a genuine Care Concept insurance product.
So thanks everyone for the feedback. Based on what I found out, I'm probably just going to apply for the S14 plan. The nice thing is that I don't have to pay anything during the application process. Payment is only required after the visa is approved, so I don't really see much downside.

so there you are, if you are in China it's worth looking at......

Chinese companies do not have to be automatically a wrong choice but I understand concerns. The named German partners are all very renowned German insurance companies.

The main question is if finally you will be their customer or are they just "man-in-the-middle", means you will be customer of a German health insurance company with a special reduced tariff.

Having a Haftpflichtversicherung (third-party liability insurance) is normally a good idea. This comes normally along around 30-40 Euro per year, e. g. by HUK24. The Chinese version worth max. 1 million Euro coverage is not recommended. 10 million is minimum recommended, typical is 100 million Euro.

Their prices for a regular German Krankenversicherung (health insurance) are somehow normal for young people. Also the prices for a private insurance are typically low because normally you pay much higher tariffs when you get older which is unimportant in your case.

For my situation as a PhD student, S14 insurance from STU Insurance still seems like a pretty good deal. It includes both health insurance and liability insurance, and at around €42 per month I think the price is quite reasonable. Care Concept confirmed that S14 is indeed one of their products and that the website is operated by one of their authorized partners.

But overall, for a 27-year-old PhD student who's mostly looking for a visa-compliant insurance plan and wants to travel around Europe from time to time, it looks like a pretty decent option to me.
By the way, I already received my insurance certificate yesterday. It arrived by email just a few hours after I submitted the application, and I didn't have to pay anything upfront. Their processing was surprisingly fast.

So, good luck.

It would help other travelers if you would post a short report here if all went well with the insurance.

I find it interesting that, with all the political posturing, a PhD student from Taiwan can easily get a policy from China....

Clearly all the news is not completely accurate?

at around €42 per month I think the price is quite reasonable.

But that’s nothing special. According to the German Student Union, you can get insurance like that starting at €34. And since STU, whom you’ve been praising so strongly, is nothing more than an insurance broker, the difference between that and your rate is likely going into their pockets as a commission.

Well, you’ve already made your decision. Anyone else after you would be well advised to consult a German comparison site like Verivox or check24. You can always sign up the policy directly with the insurance company afterward.