Accident insurance
“Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung”
Health is quality of life. A good piece of quality of life is knowing that everything is taken care of if things don’t go according to plan.
Let´s explain....
The statutory accident insurance helps you and your family cope with health and financial problems that are the immediate consequence of an accident at work or occupational illness. Accidents at work also include accidents on the way to and from work or school.
When does the protection apply?
Statutory accident insurance kicks in if an accident occurs in kindergarten, at school, at university, at work or on the way there. An accident at work can also be considered if someone is injured during company sports, at a company party or on a business trip. In some cases, even detours are insured, for example if you take your offspring to kindergarten or carpool with colleagues. Who is responsible for the injury plays no role for the insurance company.
According to the law, accidents are “temporary events that affect the body from the outside and result in damage to health or death”. According to the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), almost 2.4 million reportable accidents occurred in 2016.
If you volunteer in a club or the municipality, you also enjoy statutory accident protection. The insurance also applies if you perform an employee-like activity free of charge, i.e. you take on tasks that are usually performed by an employee and have value on the labor market. However, obvious favors among friends and relatives are not insured.
Courts often have to decide whether it was actually an accident at work. They also decide where the boundary between a friendly service and an employee-like activity runs in individual cases.
Damage to health that occurs accidentally during the insured activity without external influence is also not insured: for example, if an employee suffers a heart attack at a desk.
Basically, the following applies: In the event of accidents at home or during leisure time (including during work breaks), the statutory accident insurance does not step in. In these situations, only private accident insurance applies.
But is this enough?
Statutory vs. private accident insurance
Basically, there are two types of insurance that close the financial gap in the event of an accident: statutory and private accident insurance. But there are big differences in when, for whom and how the two types of insurance apply. How is the sum insured, the joint tax or the progression calculated and what is the amount of the payment based on disability? In this explanatory film, our experts explain the most important facts about accident insurance.
Please get in touch with me, if you want to close the deficit…