Excluding accident cover: when you may do it and what it saves

Accident insurance and health insurance: who pays for what

Basic health insurance covers illness, maternity and accidents. For accidents, however, only to the extent that no accident insurance pays. This part is called accident cover. If you are employed, you also have a second insurance: compulsory accident insurance under the Accident Insurance Act (UVG), which your employer takes out.

UVG insurance covers all employees against work-related accidents and occupational diseases. It only covers accidents in your free time, known as non-work-related accidents, if you work at least 8 hours a week for one employer (Art. 13 para. 1 of the Accident Insurance Ordinance, UVV). If you are fully insured under the UVG in this way, you would be insured twice without an adjustment. The Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG) therefore allows the accident cover of your health insurance to be suspended, known as suspension. The premium then falls by the accident share.

The two insurances differ considerably. UVG insurance pays treatment costs without a deductible or retention fee and, if you cannot work, pays a daily allowance from the third day after the accident (Art. 16 UVG). After an accident, health insurance pays the same benefits as for an illness, with a deductible and retention fee, and no daily allowance.

Step by step: excluding accident cover

1. Check your workload. Do you work at least 8 hours a week for one employer? The hours count per employer: 6 hours each with two employers is not enough.
2. Get proof. The insurer asks for proof of full UVG cover (Art. 8 para. 1 KVG), usually a confirmation from your employer or your employment contract stating your workload. On your payslip, you can see free-time cover from the deduction marked “NBU” or “NBUV”.
3. Apply in writing. Many insurers have a form in their customer portal. A letter or an email with proof is also enough if the insurer accepts it; if in doubt, ask.
4. Note the start date. The suspension starts at the earliest on the first day of the month after your application (Art. 11 para. 1 of the Health Insurance Ordinance, KVV). If you apply on 20 October, it applies from 1 November. It cannot be done retroactively.
5. Check your new policy. The insurer must show the share of the premium for accidents separately (Art. 89 let. a KVV). Your new policy will say “without accident” or show a deduction for accident cover.
6. Keep the end in view. If your job ends or your workload falls below 8 hours, report this to your insurer within one month (see below).

When you join a new insurer, it must inform you in writing of your right to exclude accident cover (Art. 9 KVG). If you switch insurer on 1 January, you can state the exclusion directly in your application.

The legal rules in detail

• Requirement: You can only exclude accident cover if you are fully insured against accidents under the compulsory UVG insurance. On application and with proof, the insurer suspends the cover and reduces the premium (Art. 8 para. 1 KVG).
• Obligation to reduce: With compulsory UVG cover, the insurer must reduce the premium (Art. 91a para. 2 KVV). With voluntary UVG insurance, for example as a self-employed person under Art. 4 UVG, or with extended cover by agreement, it may reduce the premium but does not have to (Art. 91a para. 3 KVV).
• Amount: The reduction equals the share of the premium for accident cover, at most 7 % (Art. 91a para. 4 KVV).
• Earlier accidents: The insurer continues to cover the consequences of accidents that were insured with it before the suspension (Art. 8 para. 3 KVG).
• Automatic reinstatement: As soon as UVG cover ends wholly or partly, accidents are covered by health insurance again (Art. 8 para. 2 KVG). So you are never without accident cover.
• End of UVG cover: It ends on the 31st day after the day on which your entitlement to at least half your salary ends (Art. 3 para. 2 UVG). The accident insurer must offer to extend it by agreement for up to six months (Art. 3 para. 3 UVG).
• Duty to report: Your employer and unemployment insurance must inform you in writing before the end that you have to notify your health insurer (Art. 10 para. 1 KVG). You have one month to do so (Art. 11 para. 2 KVV). If you fail to do this, the insurer can claim the share of the premium for accident cover plus default interest (Art. 10 para. 2 KVG).

What the exclusion saves in 2026

The accident share differs for every insurer and every tariff. For all offers in one municipality, we compared the premium with and without accident cover. Premiums 2026, municipality of Bern (region 1), adults born in 1996, 126 offers; source FOPH:

No offer exceeds the legal limit of 7 % of the premium. The range is still wide: for some tariffs, the accident share is only a few francs, for others a good CHF 50 a month. How high it is with your insurer is shown on your policy. In the premium calculator, select “without accident” to see the premiums of all insurers in your municipality without accident cover.

Sample calculation: exclusion and change of job

Example with fictitious people. Luca is 30, lives in Bern, works full-time and has a CHF 300 deductible. His insurer charges the median premium of CHF 609.30 a month with accident cover; with this insurer, the accident share is CHF 41.10, the same as the median of all offers.

If Luca had planned a trip between the two jobs, he could have taken out extended cover by agreement (Abredeversicherung) with his employer’s accident insurer. It extends UVG cover by up to six months. During this time, the health insurer may continue to reduce the premium but does not have to (Art. 91a para. 3 KVV).

Special cases

• Part-time with several jobs: The 8 hours apply per employer. If you do not reach the threshold with any employer, you are not insured under the UVG in your free time and keep accident cover.
• Unemployment: If you receive unemployment benefits, you are insured against accidents under the UVG through unemployment insurance (Art. 1a UVG). If your entitlement ends without a new job, unemployment insurance informs you, and you report it to your health insurer.
• Self-employed: Without voluntary UVG insurance, accident cover stays with your health insurer. With voluntary insurance under Art. 4 UVG, the health insurer decides whether to reduce the premium.
• Retirement: When your employment ends, your UVG cover also ends. What you then have to do is explained in the article Adding accident cover back when you retire.
• Children and students: Without a job of at least 8 hours a week, accident cover stays with the health insurer. With a side job of 8 hours or more with one employer, an exclusion is possible.
• Supplementary insurance: The exclusion only affects basic health insurance. Whether supplementary insurance also covers accidents and what it pays if you have UVG cover is set out in the general terms and conditions; the information from your insurer is decisive.

Common mistakes

• Never applying. The insurer does not exclude accident cover of its own accord. If you are employed and have never applied, you often pay the accident share for years.
• Wanting to exclude it retroactively. The exclusion only applies from the following month; you do not get back past months.
• Not reporting the end of your job. You remain insured, but you owe the share of the premium plus default interest.
• Adding up workloads. Two small part-time jobs with different employers do not give you free-time cover.
• Overestimating the accident share. The exclusion saves at most 7 %. Comparing insurers often brings more; the contact details of all insurers are in the health insurer profiles.

You can find more ways to save in the topic Saving money, for example the telemedicine model or paying your premium annually. If you switch insurer on 1 January, the deadline calculator shows by when your notice of cancellation must arrive.