With the end of the school year, Compensa summarized the past year. It turns out that despite remote learning, the number of reported claims did not drop drastically. One might think that the lack of PE or extracurricular sports would significantly reduce the number of accidents, but it turns out that incidents most often occur outside of school. The number of claims is indeed smaller – the effects of the lockdown can be seen – but the differences are not as large as one might have expected.

It should be remembered that many claims have still not been reported, as there are 3 years from the date of the accident to submit them, so many of this year’s incidents are not yet reflected in the statistics. The biggest differences compared to previous years were observed during the months of “hard lockdown” – there were 50–60% fewer accidents. The highest number of accidents occurred in months such as September, October, and February. Most claims were reported from cities like Warsaw, Wrocław, Łódź, and Kraków, while the fewest came from Gorzów Wielkopolski, Toruń, and Bydgoszcz.

It is also important to remember that accident insurance is a year-round policy, which also covers the summer holidays. Contrary to appearances, in July and August the number of accidents does not increase – it even decreases. In September 2020 alone, there were as many claims as during the summer holidays of 2019.

The large number of reported claims is also linked to society’s growing insurance awareness. We better understand the need for insurance and the importance of choosing the right policy, which means people are making better use of their coverage. According to Compensa’s data, in the 2020/2021 school year as many as 29% of children were insured for more than PLN 30,000, compared to 14% the year before. This emerging trend is certain to grow stronger. Parents are increasingly rejecting school-offered insurance and choosing to insure their children on their own, often selecting comprehensive policies with wide coverage and high compensation amounts.