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Semesterticket refund
Is that possible?

At many universities in Hamburg, you automatically receive a digital semester ticket as part of your semester fees. With this semester ticket, you can travel throughout Hamburg for a low flat rate for one semester.

If you are unable to use the ticket – e.g. because you are studying abroad or doing an internship outside Hamburg – you can apply for a refund of the portion of the fee for the semester ticket.

Students who do not have a smartphone can order the HVV Germany ticket in chip card format from the Hamburg Student Services Association. To do so, please fill out the one-page online form or contact us by phone (+49 40/41902 – 428) or email.

The fee for issuing the chip card is €15. Once we have received your application, we will send you a link to order your chip card. To receive a refund, we require proof of your enrollment and proof of payment for the chip card (bank statement or PayPal screenshot).

The Studierendenwerk Hamburg is responsible for reimbursement applications from the following universities:

  • University of Hamburg
  • Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
  • Hamburg University of Technology, HafenCity University
  • Hamburg University of Fine Arts
  • University of Music and Theater
  • Evangelical University for Social Work and Diaconia.

 

 

Refund criteria
Health, local, spatial or social reasons

Reimbursement is only possible if you cannot reasonably be expected to use the HVV for health, local, spatial or social reasons.

Health reasons

You are unable to use public transportation due to an illness lasting more than three months during the semester for which you are applying.
Note: UHH students with a severe disability can apply for a semester ticket exemption directly via STiNE using a token. 
For more information, see:  Befreiung vom Semesterticket/Rückerstattung : Campus-Center : Universität Hamburg (uni-hamburg.de)
HAW students with a severe disability who have a token should submit their application by email to: sts@haw-hamburg.de
For more information, please visit https://www.haw-hamburg.de/ticket/ 
All other students from the listed universities should apply to us for a refund.

 

Local reasons

You are not eligible to use the HVV because you will be spending more than three months outside the HVV area during the semester of application for study-related reasons (e.g., internship, writing a bachelor's thesis, or studying abroad).

Note: UHH students can apply for exemption from the semester ticket directly via STiNE if they are studying or doing an internship abroad.

For more information, see: Befreiung vom Semesterticket/Rückerstattung : Campus-Center : Universität Hamburg (uni-hamburg.de).

HAW students should submit their application for exemption due to studying or interning abroad by email to: sts@haw-hamburg.de.

For more information, see https://www.haw-hamburg.de/ticket/.

All other students from the listed universities should apply for a refund from us.

 

Spatial reasons

In case of spatial reasons, you live outside the HVV area and travel to your place of study by Deutsche Bahn or comparable public transport and do not use the HVV additionally for a fee. However, it is also possible that you live so close to your place of study (up to 2 km from your home) that you travel on foot or by bicycle and do not use the HVV. Or you live within the HVV fringe area and would demonstrably need more than two hours to get from your home to your place of study.

Social reasons

A refund on social grounds is to be recognized above all if you can credibly show that you have laid out your entire financial planning without travel costs because the journey to the place of study is made by bicycle or on foot, although the distance is more than 2 km each way. A claim for refund is to be recognized in these cases if you receive benefits according to the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG), current assistance for living expenses according to the 12th Book of the Social Code (SGB XII) or benefits to secure living expenses according to SGB II (unemployment benefit II) or if the financial means available to you (income, assets, alimony payments, etc.) after deduction of housing costs (warm rent plus energy costs), child allowances according to §23(1) sentence 1 no. 3 BAföG and health and nursing care insurance are below the standard social welfare rate for single persons and heads of household in Hamburg. In particularly justified cases of hardship, exceptions may be permitted after consultation with the ASten.

 

Information on reimbursement and application
When must the application be submitted and how can I submit it?

The application must be submitted each semester. It must be submitted 

  • by September 30 of each year for the winter semester and
  • by March 31 of each year for the summer semester at the latest.

Please note that you must have submitted the application by the deadlines specified, regardless of your re-registration.
In order to meet the deadline, you can submit the application to us even if you do not yet have all the documents.

You can apply for a refund online right here in the "Onlineportal zur Semesterticket-Rückerstattung".

If you would like to send it to us in paper form, you can find the PDF for printing here. Please send us the completed form in good time (the date of receipt applies) to:

Studierendenwerk Hamburg
Semesterticketrückerstattung
Postfach 13 01 13
20101 Hamburg

If you still require a refund due to de-registration from the current semester, please send your refund request and a scan of your de-registration form and your bank details by email to the following address: sbhh.kundensupport@deutschebahn.com.