Does my child need accident insurance in Germany?

Guide figures from published tariff examples for Germany, plus the order of magnitude of a payout.

Children in Germany are covered by statutory accident insurance (gesetzliche Unfallversicherung) in day care, at school and in after school care, on the way there and back, and on school trips and class journeys. Parents pay nothing for it. In 2024 more than 1.1 million such accidents were reported nationwide.

That cover stops at the garden gate. At home, in free time and in a sports club outside school there is no statutory disability benefit, and that is where most accidents happen: 43.8 percent occur in the private environment, 24.2 percent in care and school settings and 17.4 percent on playgrounds or sports grounds. A private policy closes that gap and applies around the clock, including abroad.

If you want to protect your child against a lasting severe impairment, accident insurance covers the smaller part of the risk. Figures from the federal statistics office show that around 90 percent of severe disabilities are caused by illness, about 3 percent are congenital or arise in the first year of life, and only about 1 percent come from an accident or an occupational disease. Around 200,000 children and young people under 18 in Germany are registered as severely disabled.

The statutory side shows the same thing: out of more than 1.1 million school and day care accidents in 2024, only about 578 new accident pensions were granted. Anyone who really wants to insure against lasting impairment should look at child disability insurance (Kinderinvaliditätsversicherung). It does not ask what caused the impairment, only how severe it is, and the usual trigger is a recognised degree of disability of 50 percent set by the local welfare office (Versorgungsamt). The price for that: it costs several times as much and asks health questions as detailed as income protection does.

The table shows which risk each route carries. The logic is simple: accident insurance is cheap because it covers little, and child disability insurance is expensive because it covers a lot.

Congenital impairments and illnesses already known when you apply are normally excluded from both private policies. That is why the contract has to be signed early, while the child is healthy, and not after the first diagnosis.

A child has no occupational risk class, and for adults that class is the strongest price driver. That is why the premium is small, and why saving on the base sum (Grundsumme) makes no sense: raising it from EUR 100,000 to EUR 300,000 costs less than most people expect. A child with a lasting impairment has a whole life ahead, and the money has to last for decades. Progression of 225 to 350 percent belongs in the contract, because costs only really rise at high degrees of disability.

The death benefit is the wrong item to buy. It covers a funeral but replaces no income, because a child has none, and policy terms cap it for minors anyway. Four other points in the terms matter far more: rescue and recovery costs (Bergungskosten) with a decent limit, cosmetic surgery and dental work after an accident (kosmetische Operationen), infections after a tick bite included explicitly (Infektionen), and the contributory effect of illness (Mitwirkung von Krankheiten) only counted from a high share, or excluded altogether. That last point decides a lot of money in a dispute.

If the budget only stretches to one policy, the money is better placed in child disability insurance than in accident insurance. Do not pick the cheaper one because it is cheaper; pick the one that carries the larger risk.

You also do not need a second accident policy if the child is already included in a family accident policy, a new contract for a child whose impairment has already been recognised, because neither policy pays for that, or a savings or education policy with a few euros of accident cover attached. If you want to build up money for your child, keep saving and insuring separate.