Apply for reimbursement of damaged or destroyed aids

If your glasses, prosthesis or other aid is damaged in an accident at work, on the way to work or at school, the statutory accident insurance will compensate for the damage by covering the cost of repair or replacement.

If an aid you use is damaged or lost in an accident at work, on the way to or from school, the statutory accident insurance will compensate you for the damage.

Aids include, for example:

• prostheses
• orthopedic footwear
• support corsets
• invalid carriages/wheelchairs
• walking sticks
• eyeglasses and
• hearing aids

It does not matter for what reason you need the aid.

After damage, you can claim reimbursement of the repair costs. If your assistive device is destroyed or lost, the statutory accident insurance will cover the cost of a new device. This must correspond to the previous aid in terms of its equipment, function and price.

The aim is for you to be able to use the aid again as you did before the accident ("in rem restitution"). The statutory accident insurance will therefore compensate you for the actual damage incurred.

You are not entitled to have the statutory accident insurance replace luxury versions of aids that serve as ornaments or decorations.

• Invoice for the damaged or lost device
• Cost estimate for the new device
• Invoice for the new aid or the repair invoice
• Notification of the accident at work, on the way to work or at school by the employer or school authority.
• Please ask your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund whether you need to submit any further documents and, if so, which ones.

• Forms available: no
• Written form required: no
• Informal application possible: yes
• Personal appearance required: no
• Online service available: yes

The costs can only be covered if the following conditions are met:

• There was an accident, i.e. a damaging, temporary event acting on the person from the outside.
• Your assistive device was damaged or lost in the accident.
• You were wearing the assistive device on your body during the accident. This is because there is no compensation, for example, if your glasses are kept in your briefcase and the briefcase is lost on the train.
• Your assistive device must have been damaged during an activity insured under the statutory accident insurance (for example, during work, at daycare, at school, during studies). However, you do not necessarily have to have used it in the process (for example, if reading glasses carried in a breast pocket are damaged in an accident).
• There must be proof of the accident (for example, an accident report by the employer or the school).

• Appeal
• Detailed information on how to lodge an appeal can be found in the notification from your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund.

You can request reimbursement for damaged or destroyed assistive devices online or by mail.

Online service:

• Access the online service.
• You will be guided through the process on the accident insurance service portal.
• You can log in.
  • If you would like to receive the response from your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund in the mailbox of your BundID account or My Company Account, you must have an account and authenticate yourself.
  • If you would like to receive the response by mail, you can also proceed without logging in.
• Select your responsible employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund or determine it using the industry search.
• Upload the required documents.
• Fill out the online form and submit it.
• Your report will be automatically forwarded to your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund.
• You will receive feedback via the requested channel.

Online service of your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund:

• If you have access to the portal of your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund, you can also submit the notification electronically there, if necessary.

Message by mail:

• Contact your employers' liability insurance association or accident insurance fund with an informal letter.
• Make sure you provide the required information and enclose the necessary documents.

There are no deadlines.

There are no costs involved.