Accident Insurance in Switzerland – The Complete Guide

What is accident insurance in Switzerland?

Accident insurance is the insurance that will cover the costs of accidents in Switzerland.

Switzerland is one of the few countries where accidents and illnesses are not covered in the same way. Indeed, we have health insurance for illnesses and accident insurance for accidents. So, a ski accident will be covered by the accident insurance, while bronchitis is covered by the health insurance. Both insurance types are mandatory.

The professional accident insurance is governed by its own law (LAA in French and UVG in German).

Like any other insurance, in case of an accident, you will need to submit a claim. In most cases, the insurance will pay the costs directly in case of accidents. In some cases, you may have to advance the money and get a refund later. And of course, the insurance has to accept the claim, following the definition of an accident.

Accident or illness

It is not always obvious to distinguish between an accident and an illness.

The definition in the law is that an accident is a sudden and involuntary injury to the human body caused by an extraordinary external factor that compromises physical, mental, or psychological health or results in death. If some part of the definition is not met, it will be considered an illness, not an accident.

The examples of the ski accident and bronchitis above were obvious. But the lines between some cases can be fine. Here are some examples:

• If you hurt your back by falling while carrying a heavy box, it is an accident because it is sudden and extraordinary. But if you get lumbago by carrying heavy boxes over and over for work, it is an illness because it is not sudden.
• If you have tinnitus because of a sudden speaker malfunction, this is an accident. However, if you get tinnitus by going to a loud concert, it is an illness because it is not extraordinary (risks of the concert).
• If you break your tooth on a stone contained in some dish (stone in rice, for instance), this is an accident because stones are not supposed to be in food. However, if you break your tooth while eating pork chops, it is considered an illness because it is not extraordinary.

Two types of accident

It is important to note that the law and the benefits distinguish two types of accidents:

1. Occupational accidents are accidents happening at work or during work activities. For example, you fall while carrying heavy objects for your work, or you are exposed to chemicals in your office because of an explosion in your employer’s laboratory.
2. Non-occupational accidents are accidents happening outside of work. For instance, you break your leg falling from a horse or burn yourself while cooking.

This difference is important because some people are insured differently for each type. Also, employers and employees will pay premiums differently for the occupational and non-occupational insurance.

One special case is for accidents happening during the commute to work. If you are working at least 8 hours per week for the same employer, these accidents are considered non-occupational accidents. If you are working less than 8 hours per week for the same employer, accidents during the commute are considered occupational accidents.

Who is insured?

Almost every Swiss resident is insured. However, there are several cases as to how the insurance works.

1. Employees working at least 8 hours a week for a given employer are covered for all accidents by the employer’s accident insurance. All employees of an employer are insured similarly.
2. Employees working less than 8 hours a week for a given employer are covered for occupational accidents by their employer and must take accident coverage from their health insurance provider (to cover non-occupational accidents).
3. Unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits are covered by SUVA. Once they fall out of the benefits period, they will be considered non-employed people.
4. Non-employed people must take accident coverage from their health insurance provider. This category includes stay-at-home parents or early retirees, for instance.
5. Self-employed people are not obligated to be covered for accidents. If they want, they can take accident coverage from their health insurance provider.

It is important to mention that having accident coverage from both your employer and your health insurance is a waste of money. If you are covered by your employer, you should not ask for accident coverage from your health insurance to save money. Accident coverage usually costs somewhere between 5% and 10% of health insurance premiums.

If you currently have accident coverage through your health insurance and get a new job (with at least 8 hours per week), you should contact your health insurance provider to stop accident coverage. This will help you save money.

Who pays accident insurance?

Obviously, insurance is not free, so someone must pay it even if it is mandatory. Again, this varies based on the type of insurance:

1. The occupational insurance (for employees) is paid entirely by the employer.
2. The non-occupational insurance (for employees) is paid by the employee as a deduction on the paycheck.
   1. Some employers may choose to pay for that as well.
3. Premiums for SUVA (for unemployed people) are deducted from the unemployment benefits.
4. Accident coverage from health insurance is paid entirely by the insured.
   1. This is an option to the base health insurance.

What do we get in case of an accident?

The most important question for most people is, what are the benefits of accident insurance?

The accident insurance will reimburse medical fees related to the accident. If you are using your employer’s insurance, there will be no deductible or retention fee to pay on it. However, if the accident is covered by the accident coverage from your health insurance, the deductible and retention are due (same as health insurance).

If you are incapacitated because of an accident, you will be entitled to a daily allowance from the third day after the day of the accident. The daily allowance corresponds to 80% of your insured salary (up to a salary of 148,200 CHF). If your insurance covers less than 80% of your insured salary, your employer will pay the difference. There are some cases where the accident insurance will be more than 80% of your insured salary.

If you become disabled as a result of an accident, you will receive a pension from the accident insurance. You must be at least 10% disabled to be entitled to a pension.

There are also some cases where you can qualify for integrity benefits. This could be the case if you have some permanent damage from the accident. One example could be losing a finger.

It is worth mentioning that accident insurance also works if you have an accident while abroad. However, it is important to know that there are limits to what the basic accident insurance will cover. If you are often abroad, it might be worth getting complementary accident insurance (or travel insurance) for these cases.

Limits

There are important limits to accident insurance.

First, accident insurance will only cover a salary up to 148,200 CHF (as of 2026). So, if you have a salary above this threshold, you may not get 80% of your salary. If you need extra coverage, you will need to get supplementary insurance.

Then, accident insurance will only cover public rooms in a hospital. If you want a semi-private or private room, supplementary insurance will be necessary.

If the accident is due to gross negligence, accident insurance may reduce coverage for both occupational and non-occupational accidents. Gross negligence would be something like driving under the influence or violating safety standards at work.

Finally, if you have a non-occupational accident while engaging in hazardous activities, you may get reduced benefits. Hazardous activities are activities such as base jumping, car racing, or martial arts.

Interim insurance

When you leave your employer, you will get continued coverage for 31 days after your last salary. This means you are still covered if you have a gap of 31 days between both employers.

If the gap is longer, you will need to include accident coverage in your health insurance. Or, you can ask your previous insurer to extend the coverage by up to 6 months (including the 31 days). You must ask your accident insurance provider before the end of the 31-day period.

This is called interim insurance (Abredeversicherung in German). This can be very useful if you are planning a sabbatical or a long gap between two jobs. In this case, you will need to pay a premium, but you will still be insured under better conditions than those of the accident coverage of your health insurance.

What to do in case of an accident?

If you have an accident, you will have to declare it to your accident insurance.

If you are employed, you have to declare the accident to your employer. And your employer will take care of declaring the case to the accident insurance.

If you are unemployed with benefits, you will need to notify either your local unemployment office or directly Suva.

If you are not employed, you must notify your health insurance company. In most cases, you can do that through a web portal, but you may have to call some companies.

Conclusion

Overall, I think we have good coverage in Switzerland in case of accidents. However, the coverage is significantly better for employees than it is for non-employees. So, this is important to consider when planning your emergency fund, for instance.

What is important is that the vast majority of people are insured against accidents in Switzerland. Only self-employed people have the choice. Since accidents can be quite costly, I think it makes sense that insurance is mandatory for this. Additionally, the fact that it is mostly paid out by the employer is a good thing.

If you are interested in mandatory coverage in Switzerland, you may want to read about unemployment insurance next.

What about you? What do you think about accident insurance?