Suva and Other UVG Insurers (Allocation of Employers)

Two-track administration

The UVG does not entrust compulsory accident insurance to a single monopoly carrier but to a dual system (Art. 58 UVG). Suva is an independent public-law institution with a Suva Council composed on a parity basis (Art. 61 ff. UVG). Employees of the businesses and administrations listed in Art. 66 para. 1 UVG are compulsorily insured with it – in particular industrial enterprises within the meaning of the Employment Act, the construction and installation trades, forestry, the processing of wood, metal, stone and plastics, transport and traffic undertakings, energy and water supply, waste disposal, and the federal administration and federal enterprises. Unemployed persons are also insured with Suva (Art. 66 para. 3bis UVG). The allocation of a business depends on its actual activity; for mixed businesses the rule of the unity of the business applies (Art. 66 para. 2 UVG, Art. 73 ff. UVV).

Other insurers and the substitute fund

All employers whose businesses are not allocated to Suva must insure their employees with one of the other insurers under Art. 68 UVG: a private insurance company licensed under the Insurance Supervision Act, a public accident insurance fund or a health insurer under the KVG. These insurers must be entered in a register kept by the FOPH and are obliged to accept every employer within their field of activity (Art. 68 para. 2, Art. 69 UVG). The employer chooses the insurer freely and may switch under the rules of Art. 76 UVG. The same statutory benefits apply at private insurers; competition takes place through premium tariffs and services. The Ersatzkasse UVG foundation, funded by the private insurers (Art. 72 f. UVG), provides the statutory benefits to employees whose employers have breached the insurance obligation, allocates defaulting employers to an insurer and levies substitute premiums with a surcharge.

Country comparison

Germany has exclusively public-law carriers – the Berufsgenossenschaften and Unfallkassen – with compulsory industry- or sector-based jurisdiction and no right of choice; Austria concentrates statutory accident insurance almost entirely in the AUVA. The Swiss model with private insurers inside the compulsory scheme is unique in the German-speaking region and explains why basic UVG cover and supplementary UVG insurance are frequently offered from a single source.