Insurance companies Suva warns of the costs of skiing accidents abroad
The Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund is once again recording as many skiing and snowboarding accidents as before the coronavirus pandemic. 18 percent of these occur abroad, which can be expensive for the victims.
02.12.2025, 11:02
SDA
The Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva) announced on Tuesday that compulsory accident insurance also applies outside of Switzerland. However, the insurance cover differs depending on the country of travel.
According to Suva, this also applies to treatment in public, recognized hospitals and at the social tariff of the country. Treatment in private clinics must be paid for in part.
According to the press release, social insurance agreements are decisive for the assumption of costs. Switzerland has signed one with EU and EFTA states as well as five other countries.
"In countries without such an agreement, we cover at most twice the amount of the costs that would be incurred for treatment in the most expensive public Swiss hospital," says Maximilian Gmür, expert for insurance cover abroad, in the Suva press release.
There is no social insurance agreement with the USA or Canada, for example.
35,000 winter sports accidents per year
In 2023, Suva counted the most snow sports accidents involving Swiss abroad in Austria (2,561 cases) and France (2,320 cases). Italy (1040 cases) followed at some distance and Germany (140 cases) was less significant.
In total, Suva records around 35,000 skiing and snowboarding accidents every year.
