Under certain conditions, employees are able to transfer their entitlement to benefits within the German statutory accident insurance scheme to another Member State of the EU, EEA State, or Switzerland or to countries with a Social Security Agreement.
According to the law, certain persons working abroad are insured within the German statutory accident insurance scheme pursuant to the specific provisions of § 2 para. 3 SGB VII. Moreover, the German accident insurance coverage extends overseas in the event of secondment abroad (§ 4 SGB IV), so when persons in an employment relationship in Germany are deployed overseas by their employer.
Statutory accident insurance does not cover private accidents.
Depending on the country and type of research activity, it may be that the German statutory accident insurance is no longer valid during a stay abroad. Under certain circumstances, no access is available to the statutory accident insurance in the country of employment.
To close this gap in the private and occupational accident insurance coverage, you may want to look into getting private accident insurance in your soon-to-be country of employment or in Germany. As a matter of principle, obtaining private accident insurance is the researcher's own responsibility. A research institution or the organisation granting a fellowship may opt to provide accident insurance for the researcher.
When obtaining private accident insurance, please pay special attention to the following aspects:
- coverage of accidents in the country of employment
- coverage of accidents while travelling to Germany or in third countries
- coverage valid for the specific type and duration of your research stay (use caution with traditional travel insurance!)
- coverage of work accidents if they are not covered by statutory accident insurance
- coverage of accidents that may occur under the specific circumstances or your research activity (e.g. lab accidents),
- exclusions of liability, e.g. for dangerous activities or sports.
Further Information
EURAXESS - The European Services Network
EURAXESS Services is a network of over 650 centres located in more than 40 European countries. As a researcher, these centres assist you and your family to plan and organise your stay.