Extended accident insurance

What is extended accident insurance?

Extended accident insurance (in German Abredeversicherung) is a voluntary extension of insurance against non-work-related accidents under the Federal Act on Accident Insurance (UVG). As long as you are employed and work at least eight hours a week for the same employer, you are also insured through that employer against accidents in your free time. This is non-work-related accident insurance (NBU). When your employment ends, this protection also ends after a short period of continued cover. With extended accident insurance, you push that end back by up to six months.

The German name comes from the “special agreement” (besondere Abrede) between you and your employer’s accident insurer. It is not a benefit of your health insurer and is only indirectly linked to basic health insurance under the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG): it decides whether you continue to claim for accidents through accident insurance or again through your health insurer.

The difference is noticeable. Accident insurance under the UVG pays the costs of treatment without a deductible and without a retention fee, and pays a daily allowance if you are unable to work. Your health insurer only pays for accidents within the scope of basic health insurance, with a deductible and retention fee and without a daily allowance.

How it works

The process has three phases:

1. End of salary entitlement. You leave your job, or your entitlement to at least half your salary ends, for example during a long period of unpaid leave.
2. Continued cover for 31 days. Accident insurance continues until the 31st day after the day on which your salary entitlement ends. During this time you remain fully insured without having to do anything.
3. Agreement for up to six months. Before the continued cover expires, you can take out the agreement with your previous accident insurer and pay the premium. Your protection is then extended by the agreed period, up to a maximum of six months.

The agreement only covers non-work-related accidents, because you are not working in a job in which a work-related accident could happen during this time. If you start a new job with at least eight hours a week before then, you are once again compulsorily insured through your new employer.

The premium is set by the insurer. It is a fixed amount per month and is paid in advance. Ask your employer’s accident insurer for the current amount and the form.

Legal basis

Art. 3 para. 2 UVG provides that accident insurance ends on the 31st day after the day on which the entitlement to at least half the salary ends. For unemployed persons, the same period applies from the last day of entitlement to unemployment benefit. Under Art. 3 para. 3 UVG, the insurer must offer the option of extending the insurance by special agreement for up to six months.

Art. 8 of the Accident Insurance Ordinance (UVV) requires the agreement to be made individually or collectively before non-work-related accident insurance ends. Art. 72 para. 2 UVV obliges employers and unemployment insurance offices to inform insured persons about the option of extended accident insurance. Art. 13 UVV states that part-time employees are only insured against non-work-related accidents if they work at least eight hours a week for the same employer.

On the health insurance side, Art. 8 para. 2 KVG applies: accidents are covered by basic health insurance as soon as accident cover under the UVG ends in whole or in part. Under Art. 10 KVG, your employer must point out to you in writing that you have to notify your health insurer when your UVG cover ends.

Example: changing jobs with a trip in between

Lea is 29 years old. Her employment ends on 31.03.2026, and her new job starts on 01.09.2026. In between, she travels for four months and then looks for a flat. She does not receive unemployment benefit.

Lea must take out the agreement by 01.05.2026 at the latest, in other words before her continued cover ends. The days in the example are calculated under Art. 3 para. 2 UVG: her salary entitlement ends on 31 March, and the insurance on the 31st day after that.

What this means for you

When you leave a job, ask yourself three questions:

1. Will you start a new job with at least eight hours a week within 31 days? Then you are insured without a gap and do not need an agreement.
2. Are you receiving unemployment benefit? Then you are insured against accidents through unemployment insurance. You can find out more under unemployment.
3. Will there be a gap of more than 31 days without a salary? Then it is worth comparing: the premium for the agreement for the missing months against your cost risk with your health insurer.

Whatever you decide, you have to tell your health insurer that your UVG cover is ending. It will then include accident cover again, and your premium will rise accordingly. Once the agreement starts, you can have accident cover excluded again, because you are once more fully insured under the UVG. The exclude accident cover tool shows how exclusion works and how much premium it saves. You can see how premiums differ with and without accident cover in the premium calculator. The insurer profiles are under health insurers.

Common mistakes

• Missing the deadline. The agreement is only possible before your continued cover ends. After that, only your health insurer remains.
• Not informing your health insurer. If you have excluded accident cover and do not report the end of your UVG cover, you have to pay the share of the premium for accident cover retroactively, plus default interest.
• Expecting the agreement for part-time jobs under eight hours. If you work fewer than eight hours a week, you never had non-work-related accident insurance and therefore cannot extend it.
• Mistaking the agreement for cover against work-related accidents. It only covers accidents in your free time. If you work as a self-employed person during the gap, you need your own solution.

You can find more terms relating to work and accidents in the glossary.