What does private accident insurance cover in Germany?

Guide figures from published tariff examples and payout sizes, base sum EUR 100,000, 2026.

The name accident insurance says nothing about what is actually paid. Treatment, physiotherapy and medication are covered by your health insurance. Private accident insurance (Unfallversicherung) pays because something is left permanently after an accident. The sum is always calculated the same way: base sum (Grundsumme) multiplied by the degree of disability, and that degree comes from the Gliedertaxe, a table that assigns a percentage to each part of the body.

The plain version of that table values an arm at 70 percent, a hand at 55, a thumb at 20, an index finger at 10, a leg at 70, a foot at 40, an eye at 50 and hearing in one ear at 30 percent. Better tariffs raise these figures substantially, up to 100 percent for an arm or a leg. Progression adds more on top: from around 25 percent disability the payment rises disproportionately, so with 225 or 350 percent progression it goes far beyond the base sum.

Every policy is a bundle. You only see what is really inside once you look at the parts one by one. The table shows what each one pays and who it is worth it for.

Rule of thumb: anything that pays one large amount after a severe accident is money well spent. Anything that pays small amounts for small events is an expensive savings plan with an insurance mark-up.

Hospital and convalescence daily benefits sound good and rarely pay much. At EUR 20 a day, two weeks in hospital brings about EUR 280, and you pay a premium for that every year. Lost income is better covered by sick pay insurance (Krankentagegeld), because that also pays when you are ill, and illness is the more common cause.

A large accidental death sum is the second classic mistake. It only applies if the accident itself causes death, which is the rarest case. If you want to protect your family, take term life insurance (Risikolebensversicherung). For children the death sum is particularly odd: it changes nothing about the family's situation and costs money that would do more inside the base sum. Rescue costs and cosmetic surgery, by contrast, belong in every policy because they settle real invoices.

The most common refusal has nothing to do with the accident and everything to do with the calendar. Three deadlines run from the day of the accident, and if you miss one of them there is no disability payment, however severe the injury.

The exact periods are in your policy wording and differ between insurers. Older contracts require the disability to have set in within twelve months, newer ones allow 15 months, good tariffs 18 or 24. So report the accident immediately and have any permanent damage confirmed in writing, even if the degree is not settled yet. German wording applies in a claim, so ask us when a clause is unclear.

Cover applies only if an accident was the cause: a sudden event from outside, involuntary. A slipped disc while lifting, a heart attack or a stroke normally do not count. If you want to insure the larger part of the risk, you need income protection insurance (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung), because most permanent impairments come from illness rather than accidents.

The second limit is contributory causation (Mitwirkung). If an existing illness or condition helped produce the outcome, many policies reduce the payment by that share. Good wordings only count it from a high share, often from 50 percent. For older policyholders that single clause matters more than the size of the base sum.