Accident insurance

What is accident insurance?

If you have an accident in Switzerland, you are always insured, but not always by the same body. The system has two types of insurance that complement each other:

• Compulsory accident insurance under the UVG (Accident Insurance Act). Employers take it out for their employees, with Suva or another authorised insurer. It covers work-related accidents and, from 8 hours a week with one employer, also accidents in your free time.
• The accident cover in basic health insurance with your health insurer. It steps in if no accident insurance pays, and it is included in every basic health insurance policy by default.

The question “accident insurance or health insurer?” therefore arises mainly on two occasions: when you want to remove accident cover from your health insurance because you are insured through your employer, and when it has to be established after an accident who pays the bill.

There are also voluntary accident insurance policies under the Insurance Contract Act (ICA), for example supplementary accident insurance for the semi-private ward, lump-sum insurance in the event of disability or death, or the UVG supplementary insurance that employers take out for salaries above the UVG maximum. These are voluntary and only touched on here.

How it works

Who pays for which accident?

Situation	Responsible	Co-payment
Employed, at least 8 hrs/week with one employer, accident in free time	Employer’s UVG insurance	none
Employed, under 8 hrs/week, accident at work or on the way to work	Employer’s UVG insurance	none
Employed, under 8 hrs/week, accident in free time	Health insurer	deductible and retention fee
Children, pupils, students without a job	Health insurer	deductible and retention fee
Pensioners, people not in work	Health insurer	deductible and retention fee
Self-employed without voluntary UVG insurance	Health insurer	deductible and retention fee
People receiving unemployment benefit	UVG through unemployment insurance	none

The differences in benefits

UVG insurance offers more comprehensive accident cover. It pays treatment costs without a deductible and without a retention fee, pays a daily allowance of 80% of the insured salary from the third day after the accident and, for permanent damage, pensions and compensation for impairment to integrity. For accidents, your health insurer pays the same treatments as for illness, with a deductible and a 10% retention fee, but no daily allowance and no pension.

Excluding and reinstating accident cover

If you are fully insured under the UVG, you can ask your health insurer to suspend accident cover. This is called suspension (Sistierung). You have to prove that you are insured under the UVG, for example with a confirmation from your employer. The insurer then reduces your premium by the accident portion. The law limits this reduction to no more than 7%.

As soon as your UVG cover ends in full or in part, the accident cover of your health insurer automatically applies again. However, you must report the change. Your employer, or unemployment insurance, must inform you of this in writing when you leave. If you do not report it, the insurer can claim the accident portion of the premium retroactively, plus default interest.

Legal basis

Art. 1a para. 2 let. b KVG provides that social health insurance only pays benefits for accidents if no accident insurance covers them. Under Art. 8 para. 1 KVG, accident cover can be suspended for insured persons who are fully covered on a compulsory basis under the UVG; the premium is reduced accordingly. Art. 8 para. 2 KVG reinstates the accident cover of the health insurer as soon as UVG cover ends in full or in part. Art. 9 KVG requires the insurer to inform you about suspension when you join, and Art. 10 KVG governs the duty to report and the back claim with default interest.

Art. 91a KVV governs the amount of the premium reduction: under para. 2, insurers must reduce the premium while UVG cover applies, under para. 4 by no more than 7%. On the UVG side, Art. 1a UVG defines who is insured, Art. 13 UVV sets the threshold of 8 hours a week for free-time cover and Art. 3 UVG the start and end of cover. The benefits are set out in Art. 10 UVG (medical treatment) and Art. 16–17 UVG (daily allowance), and the co-payment in health insurance in Art. 64 KVG.

Example: what excluding accident cover saves in Zurich in 2026

Andrea is 36, works 80% in an office and lives in the city of Zurich. She has a CHF 2,500 deductible and is insured under the UVG through her employer. The figures come from the official 2026 premium data.

	with accident cover	without accident cover	Difference per month
most expensive offer (Galenos, basic health insurance)	CHF 595.70	CHF 556.70	CHF 39.00
cheapest offer	CHF 389.40	CHF 366.90	–

If Andrea has a cycling accident in her free time, her UVG insurance pays for treatment and the daily allowance without a deductible. If she were a student without a job, her health insurer would pay for the treatment, and with a CHF 2,500 deductible she would bear the first CHF 2,500 herself plus a 10% retention fee up to CHF 700. The premium calculator shows your own figures with and without accident cover.

What this means for you

1. Check your UVG status. Do you work at least 8 hours a week for the same employer? Then your payslip shows a deduction for non-work-related accidents (NBU).
2. Exclude accident cover if you are insured twice. Ask your health insurer to exclude accident cover and enclose a confirmation from your employer. Instructions are under exclude accident cover.
3. Reinstate cover in good time. If you resign, take unpaid leave, retire or drop below 8 hours a week, tell your insurer before your UVG cover ends.
4. Think about loss of earnings. Your health insurer pays no daily allowance. If you are self-employed, look into voluntary UVG insurance or daily allowance insurance.
5. Use a change of insurer. You also choose accident cover again when you switch. You can find insurer profiles under health insurers and the dates under deadlines.

Common mistakes

• Paying the accident portion twice for years. If you are employed and keep the accident cover of your health insurance, you pay for cover that never comes into play.
• Not reinstating accident cover after your job ends. Your health insurer will still pay, but it can claim the premium portion retroactively, plus default interest.
• Misjudging several small part-time jobs. The 8 hours count per employer. Two jobs of 6 hours each do not give you UVG cover in your free time.
• Confusing accident and illness. An accident requires a sudden external event. Back pain from lifting without any particular incident is usually handled by the health insurer.
• Overlooking the missing daily allowance. If you are self-employed without UVG insurance, your health insurer only pays for treatment after an accident, not for lost earnings.