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Who pays if you are injured as a first aider or your clothes are ruined?

In short

Who pays if you are injured as a first aider in Germany? The accident fund (Unfallkasse) of the federal state where you helped. Anyone who helps in an emergency has statutory accident cover, with no premium and no registration. If you are injured, you get the same benefits as after an accident at work. If your clothes are ruined or your glasses break, the fund also replaces this on application.

Who pays if you are injured as a first aider or your clothes are ruined?

What it costs

What cover as a first aider costs and what additional private cover would cost.

ExampleTypical range
Statutory accident cover as an emergency helperEUR 0, no premium and no registration
Application to the accident fund for damaged propertyEUR 0, no deadline stated
Private accident insurance, office job, EUR 100,000, 350 percent progressionabout EUR 60 to 180 a year
Private accident insurance, manual jobs, same sumsabout EUR 120 to 264 a year
Private accident insurance from age 60 to 70about EUR 120 to 456 a year

As of November 2026.

Information on statutory cover comes from the law and the federal administration's service

description, which states that processing takes about one to two weeks.

Private premiums are published monthly ranges converted to a year, as of July 2026;

your premium depends on age, job and scope.

Worked example

First aid on a country road

A cyclist falls in front of you. You kneel next to him, stop the bleeding and slip into the ditch as you get up. Your wrist is broken, your jacket is covered in blood and your glasses are broken.

Treatment of the wrist and rehabilitationaccident fund of the federal state where you helped
Six weeks unable to workinjury benefit from the accident fund
Jacket and glassesreplaced under section 13 SGB VII on application, with receipts or photos
Pain and sufferingnot from the accident fund
With private accident insuranceadditional benefit under the contract, for example for permanent impairment

Treatment, income replacement and damaged property are handled by the accident fund without you having paid a single euro in premium. The only important thing is to tell the doctor and the fund that it happened while you were helping.

What is different if you come from abroad

In Germany helping is not just a moral choice. Under section 323c of the Criminal Code (StGB), anyone who fails to help in an accident or emergency, although help is necessary and reasonable, can be punished with up to one year in prison or a fine. Help is not considered reasonable if it would put you in considerable danger yourself.

In return, the state protects you. If you come from a country where helpers rely on their own health insurance, note that in Germany the statutory accident insurance (gesetzliche Unfallversicherung) steps in for you as a helper, without you ever having joined it. Calling 112 and giving basic first aid is already help.

Who is insured as a first aider

Section 2 (1) no. 13 of Book VII of the Social Code (SGB VII) protects people who help in accidents, common danger or need, or who rescue someone from serious danger to their health. Also protected is anyone who pursues or holds a suspect or stands up for someone who is being unlawfully attacked.

You do not have to take out anything, and nobody has to register you. The cover applies to everyone who steps in spontaneously, including children and pensioners. If you live in Germany and help abroad, you are also insured; then the accident fund of your home federal state is responsible.

SituationStatutory accident cover?
First aid after a road accidentyes
Trying to rescue someone from a fireyes
Saving someone from drowningyes
Chasing or holding a thiefyes
Police or fire brigade ask you to helpyes
Duty as a member of a fire brigade or rescue serviceyes, but through the organisation, not as an emergency helper
You accidentally harm the victim while helpinga question of liability, see below

What the accident fund pays if you are injured

If you are injured while helping, you get the same benefits as after an accident at work: medical treatment, hospital and rehabilitation, medicines and aids, travel costs and psychological support. If you cannot work, the fund pays injury benefit (Verletztengeld).

If your earning capacity is reduced by at least 20 percent beyond the 26th week after the accident, you receive a pension under section 56 SGB VII. The accident funds can pay additional benefits under their own statutes. If the help ends in death, surviving dependants receive a death grant and a survivors' pension.

If your clothes are ruined or something breaks

Under section 13 SGB VII, the accident fund replaces, on application, damage to items you had with you while helping. Typical cases are clothes covered in blood or torn, broken glasses or a damaged phone. Expenses you could reasonably consider necessary in the circumstances are also covered.

This only applies if no other public law claim for compensation exists. You do not have to be injured: even if you go home unhurt with a ruined jacket, you can apply for replacement.

Are you liable if something goes wrong?

If you rescue someone from urgent danger, you are only liable for intent and gross negligence under section 680 of the German Civil Code (BGB). A broken rib during chest compressions or a jacket of the victim damaged while bandaging is therefore normally not something you have to pay for.

According to the accident fund of Rhineland-Palatinate, if you help to the best of your knowledge you normally need fear neither claims for damages nor criminal consequences. Fear of making mistakes is not a good reason to look away.

Pain and suffering and the limits of cover

Statutory accident insurance does not pay damages for pain and suffering (Schmerzensgeld). If the person rescued caused the danger through their own fault, there may be a claim against them or their liability insurance. Courts require that the effort went beyond everyday risk and that the accident resulted from exactly that.

Statutory cover only applies to the help itself. It does not cover accidents in your free time, during sport or at home; for that there is only private accident insurance.

When private accident insurance still makes sense

For first aid alone you do not need a policy of your own, because statutory cover is broad and free. Private accident insurance (private Unfallversicherung), by contrast, pays for permanent disability according to a fixed scale (Gliedertaxe), wherever and however the accident happens.

It makes sense mainly for people who do a lot of sport in their free time, for children and for self-employed people without statutory accident cover at work.

Step by step

  1. Tell the doctor straight away that you were injured while helping someone.
  2. Write down from memory: place, time, what happened, what you did.
  3. Note names and addresses of witnesses and the reference number from police or fire brigade.
  4. Photograph and keep damaged clothes and items, find the purchase receipts.
  5. Write to the accident fund of the federal state, informally or through the online service portal of the accident insurance.
  6. If refused, object (Widerspruch) within the deadline stated in the decision.

Checklist

  • Doctor knows it was an accident while helping
  • Written account with date and place
  • Witnesses and reference number noted
  • Photos of damaged clothes and items taken
  • Invoices or purchase receipts collected
  • Responsible accident fund contacted

Common mistakes

  • Billing the accident only through your health insurance and not mentioning that you were helping
  • Throwing away ruined clothes before photographing them
  • Believing you are liable for every rib broken during resuscitation
  • Expecting damages for pain and suffering from the accident fund

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Do I have to register anywhere as a first aider?

No.

Cover applies by law the moment you help.

You pay no premium.

Which accident fund is responsible?

The accident fund of the federal state where you helped.

If you help abroad and live in Germany, the fund of your federal state is responsible.

Will my ruined clothes be replaced if I am not injured?

Yes.

Replacement of damaged property under section 13 SGB VII does not require an injury.

Apply with photos and receipts.

Is there a deadline for the application?

The administration's service description does not state one.

Still apply soon, while witnesses and receipts are at hand.

Does the accident fund pay damages for pain and suffering?

No.

Such damages can only come from the person who caused the danger or their liability insurer.

Am I liable if I break a rib during resuscitation?

Normally not.

If you rescue someone from urgent danger,

under section 680 BGB you are only liable for intent and gross negligence.

Can I be punished for not helping?

Yes.

Under section 323c StGB, failing to help when it is necessary and reasonable can be punished.

Help that would put you in considerable danger is not required.

Sources

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