Accidents During Return Home Not Covered by Insurance

Mar 26, 2026 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has delivered a decision about when insurance coverage begins after leaving one’s place of work.

Plaintiff sought recognition of the accident as an occupational injury

The plaintiff in the case at hand was the hotel’s head chef and lived in staff accommodation about eight to ten minutes away on foot.

Once his shift ended, he returned to his accommodation. Realising he’d forgotten his room key at the hotel, he walked back to retrieve it.

After he had picked up the key he started walking back to his accommodation. While approaching the pedestrian crossing near his workplace for a second time, he was struck by a car and suffered serious injuries.  

No insurance protection for the second walk home

The defendant denied that the incident was a workplace accident, though the accident had happened on the direct route between work and the plaintiff’s staff accommodation, with clear links to insured employment by location, time, and cause.

Because the plaintiff had already made the trip once before, accident insurance did not apply to the second walk home.

The claimant's second journey home was made not for purposes related to employment, but for reasons associated with their own interests.

The court dismissed the claim, determining that at the time of the accident, the claimant’s route was outside the scope of insured business activities. The return walk was found to serve solely the claimant’s personal financial interests, rather than the execution of work-related duties.

Pursuant to Section 175(1) of the Austrian General Social Insurance Act (Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz, hereinafter ASVG), occupational accidents are defined as incidents that occur in direct local, temporal, and causal association with insured employment.

However, pursuant to the general provisions of Section 175(1) of the ASVG, a sufficient factual nexus must exist between the realised risk of an accident and the purpose of the trip undertaken.

Accident insurance coverage during commutes to and from work is contingent upon the intent to arrive at a designated protected destination and engage in a relevant activity, such as fulfilling employment duties or utilising residential facilities.

OGH ObS 107/25w (11 February 2026).