Suva: claims for invalidity annuity at a record low
Last year Suva granted 2210 new claims for invalidity annuity following an accident, 10.9% less than the previous year. The number of new claims has never been this low since the law on accident insurance came into force in 1984.
On Monday, the largest accident insurer said that costs fell by CHF 50 million, from 681 to 631 million francs (-7.3%). On average, each new claim costs 286,000 francs, with an average invalidity rate of 29.8%.
Suva puts these positive results down to two factors: On the one hand, the 'New Case Management' (NCM), a new method of rehabilitation introduced in 2003. On the other hand, the effect of a positive economic outlook during the first half of 2008. Thus some employers have offered new jobs to employees that have had accidents, sometimes even to those who have lost their full working ability.
At the end of 2008, 99,368 people were receiving a Suva annuity, comprising 77,388 invalidity annuities and 21,980 survivor annuities. During last year, SUVA paid out 1.5 billion francs for all annuities.
In 2008, SUVA recorded an increase of 5.3% for non-industrial accidents. After a slight drop in 2007, their number went from 239,016 to 251,803 in 2008.
A large number of them were related to skiing and snowboarding: in 2008, Suva recorded a total of 17,406 winter sport accidents, representing 3,803 more than the previous year (+ 28%). The insurer explains the reasons for this as being heavy snowfalls and favourable weather conditions.
The number of claims due to football accidents reached a total of 28,957 cases, up 6.8%. Nonetheless it is still not possible to say if the Euro 2008 played a part in the surge in interest showed for playing the sport.
In 2008, road accidents were also on the increase: 36,400 claims were made to Suva during last year (+ 6.9%). Experience shows that road accident claims are expensive.
For the sector dealing specifically with insurance against industrial accidents, the increase was slower. During the previous year, the number of claims to Suva relating to industrial accidents and sickness only rose by 0.8%, for a total of 186,010 cases.
Sources: SUVA