What is an immediate payment for serious injuries in German accident insurance?
In short
What is an immediate payment for serious injuries in German accident insurance? It is an amount, the Sofortleistung, that some tariffs pay soon after an accident such as paraplegia, amputation or brain bleeding, without waiting for the disability assessment. The model terms do not have it. One example is 10 percent of the sum, capped at EUR 10,000 or 25,000, sometimes offset, sometimes extra.
As of October 2026, from published terms and premium examples.
Whether the payment is offset is stated in your tariff.
The amounts in the worked example are a guide value from our quoting practice;
we obtain the exact quote for you.
Worked example
Aged 45, motorbike accident, leg amputated below the knee
How offsetting works with a EUR 100,000 sum insured and an immediate payment of EUR 10,000, calculated without progression.
Immediate payment soon after the diagnosis
EUR 10,000
Later degree of disability: loss of the leg below the knee
50 percent
Disability benefit
EUR 50,000
Remaining payment if offset
EUR 40,000, EUR 50,000 in total
Payment if paid on top
EUR 50,000, EUR 60,000 in total
Both versions bring EUR 10,000 early. Only the payment on top also raises the total.
What the immediate payment is for
The disability benefit pays for lasting damage. Whether damage remains is often only clear months after the accident, and once the documents are in, the insurer has three months to state its position. After serious injuries, costs arise straight away: adapting your home, trips to the clinic, lost income.
The immediate payment bridges this time. It does not depend on the degree of disability, only on the diagnosis. If one of the listed serious injuries is present, you get the agreed amount.
Which injuries count
Which injuries trigger the payment is listed exhaustively in your terms. Common ones are paraplegia, loss of a hand, foot, whole arm or leg, head injuries with proven brain bleeding, fractures of the neck vertebrae and extensive burns.
Some terms define the list by ICD codes, the diagnosis codes in the medical report. That is clear but strict: if your diagnosis is not on the list, there is no immediate payment, however serious the injury.
Offset or paid on top
This is the key difference between tariffs. If the payment is offset, it is simply paid early: what you receive now is later deducted from the disability benefit. If it is paid on top, you receive both.
One published example of the first kind is 10 percent of the disability sum, capped at EUR 10,000 in the basic tariff and EUR 25,000 in higher levels, offset against the disability benefit. An example of the second kind is an agreed fixed amount without offsetting. There, if the insured person dies of the injury within 72 hours, only the death benefit is paid.
Feature
Offset payment
Payment on top
Timing
early, after the diagnosis
early, after the diagnosis
Later disability benefit
reduced by the payment
in full
Total benefit
as without the add-on, just earlier
higher
Example from published terms
10 percent, capped at EUR 10,000 or 25,000
agreed fixed amount
Immediate payment, advance and legal deadlines
Even without this add-on you do not have to wait until the end. Under section 187 of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG), the insurer must state within one month whether it will pay, for disability claims within three months. Once liability is established in principle, you can ask for a reasonable advance. After acknowledging the claim, the insurer pays within two weeks.
Under the model terms the advance has a limit: before medical treatment has ended, in the first year after the accident a disability benefit can only be claimed up to an agreed death benefit. The immediate payment does not depend on this limit.
When the add-on is worth it and when not
To be honest, the injuries on the list are rare. What matters first is a sufficient sum insured, a good limb schedule (Gliedertaxe) and a suitable progression. An immediate payment does not make a weak tariff good.
It makes sense if you have few savings, are self-employed or would quickly need to adapt your home. Then look for a payment on top and a broad list.
Step by step
Search your terms for Sofortleistung or Schwerverletzung.
Read the list of injuries and look out for ICD codes.
Check whether the payment is offset or paid on top.
After a serious accident, send the medical report with the diagnosis to the insurer.
Separately, claim disability within the deadline.
Checklist
Immediate payment on top of the disability benefit
Broad list with paraplegia, amputation, brain bleeding and burns
Amount or percentage with cap known
Sum insured and progression sufficient regardless of the add-on
Advance under section 187 VVG known as a route without the add-on
Common mistakes
Treating an offset payment as extra money
Choosing a tariff for its immediate payment rather than its sum and limb schedule
Forgetting the disability deadline after receiving the immediate payment
