Accident of a courier or app driver: insurance and reporting

Who this applies to

This guide is for couriers and app drivers who have had an accident during work. The rules depend on the type of contract:

Insurance under a contract of mandate runs from the day work under the contract starts, as stated in the contract, until the contract is terminated or expires (Article 13(2) of the Social Insurance System Act). For a business it runs from the day the business starts (Article 13(4)).

We describe who the party to your contract is in the guide Courier or app driver: who is your employer and what contract do you have?.

What to do

1. Take care of your health and safety. Call for help if needed. See a doctor and keep all medical documentation.
2. Collect evidence immediately. Take photos of the place, vehicles, bicycle, damage and injuries. Write down the details of witnesses. Take a screenshot from the app showing that you were performing a job at that time (order or ride number, time, route). Write a description of the event in the incident log.
3. Report the accident. Under a contract of mandate, notify the company you work for, that is, usually the fleet partner (§ 2 of the Regulation on the accident card). Do this in writing or by e-mail and keep a copy. Under B2B, notify the local ZUS unit competent for the registered address of your business (§ 2 of the Regulation). Reporting in the app alone may not be enough if the app is not the party to your contract.
4. Establishing the circumstances. The entity drawing up the card collects evidence: inspects the place of the accident, hears witnesses, and also you, if your state of health allows it (§ 3 of the Regulation). Immediately after notification, it informs ZUS that proceedings have started (§ 5).
5. Accident card within 14 days. The card should be drawn up at the latest within 14 days of receiving notification of the accident (§ 4(1)). You must be informed that you may submit comments and objections (§ 4(2)). The card has 3 copies: you receive the first, the second stays with the entity drawing it up, and the third goes to ZUS if the event was recognised as an accident at work (§ 4(4)). If the event was not recognised as an accident at work, this must be justified and evidence indicated (§ 3).
6. Application for benefits to ZUS. For an accident at work the Act provides, among other things, sickness benefit, rehabilitation benefit, one-off compensation and a pension (Article 6(1) of the Accident Insurance Act). Check the conditions and application forms on zus.pl. ZUS refuses benefits when you do not present an accident card or when the card did not recognise the event as an accident at work (Article 22(1)). Refusal takes the form of a decision (Article 22(2)). The decision contains information on how to appeal against it.

When the partner does not draw up an accident card

1. Send the partner a written reminder that it has a duty to establish the circumstances of the accident in a card (Article 5(1)(6) of the Accident Insurance Act) within 14 days (§ 4(1) of the Regulation). Keep a copy.
2. Contact ZUS and describe the situation. Without a card, ZUS will refuse benefits (Article 22(1)(1)).
3. File a complaint with the PIP (National Labour Inspectorate, Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy). The PIP may inspect an entrepreneur who is not an employer with regard to the health and safety of people working for them, also on civil-law contracts (Article 13(1) of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate). You can prepare the complaint in the PIP complaint generator.

Exceptions and caveats

Pupil or student under 26. A contractor who is a secondary school pupil or a student and is under 26 is not compulsorily covered by pension and disability insurance (Article 6(4) of the Social Insurance System Act). Since they are not covered by these insurances, they are usually not compulsorily covered by accident insurance either (Article 12(1)). An accident at work within the meaning of Article 3(3) of the Accident Insurance Act must occur "during the period of accident insurance". For this reason a student without this insurance will usually not receive accident benefits from ZUS. The provisions do not say directly anything about students of foreign universities. Ask ZUS.

No contract or no registration with ZUS. A contract of mandate can also be concluded orally. The principal has 7 days to register you for insurance (Article 36(2) of the Social Insurance System Act). The Act ties the start of insurance to the day work under the contract starts (Article 13(2)), not to the day of registration. How ZUS assesses the right to benefits in such a situation depends on the evidence, and we cannot settle it. Collect evidence that you performed the mandate and contact ZUS. You can describe the failure to register you for insurance in a complaint to the PIP, because the PIP inspects the legality of employment (Article 10(1)(3) of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate). See also I am working without a written contract. What does this mean and what can I do?.

When the cooperation may be an employment contract. If you work under the partner's direction, at a place and time set by the partner, the contract may be an employment relationship regardless of its name (Article 22 § 1 and § 1(1) of the Labour Code, Kodeks pracy). Then the rules for employees apply: an accident report, and for a serious, fatal or collective accident also notification of the labour inspector and the prosecutor (Article 234 § 2 of the Labour Code). See Accident at work: what must the employer do and what rights does the injured employee have?.

Accident on the way. The Accident Insurance Act does not provide a separate category of accident on the way to or from work for contractors under a contract of mandate. Accidents on the way are regulated by other provisions, which we do not discuss in this guide. If the accident happened on the way to the first job or after finishing work, ask ZUS whether and which benefits you are entitled to. An accident during the ride itself, for example on the way to a restaurant to collect an order or to a customer, is a different situation: usually this is already performance of the mandate.

When there are no benefits. Benefits from accident insurance are not due when the sole cause of the accident was a proven breach of provisions on the protection of life and health, intentionally or through gross negligence. They are also not due to a person who was drunk or under the influence of drugs and contributed significantly to the accident (Article 21 of the Accident Insurance Act).

Road accident caused by another driver. Regardless of ZUS benefits, you may have claims against the person at fault and their insurer under compulsory third-party liability (OC) insurance. We do not discuss these rules. Get legal advice.

Changes in the law. The Accident Insurance Act is amended from 1 January 2027 by the act Dz.U. 2026 item 26. We do not discuss this amendment.

When to see a lawyer. When the card did not recognise the event as an accident at work, when ZUS refused benefits, when the accident was serious, when you have no written contract, or when you want to claim compensation from the person at fault. The PIP also gives free advice, see How do you get free legal advice from the PIP?.

Example

Assumptions: a courier is 30 years old, is not a student and has a written contract of mandate with a fleet partner. The partner registered him for insurance. While delivering an order, the courier falls off his bicycle on an icy road and breaks his wrist. Nobody else was involved in the event.

1. The courier goes to the emergency department and keeps the medical documentation. He takes a screenshot from the app with the order number and time.
2. The next day he sends the partner an e-mail with a description of the accident and the witness's details.
3. The partner informs ZUS, collects evidence and, within 14 days of notification, draws up the accident card. It shows it to the courier and informs him of his right to comment.
4. The courier receives the first copy of the card and attaches it to his application for benefits at ZUS.

If the same courier were a 22-year-old student, he would usually have no compulsory accident insurance under this contract and would not receive accident benefits from ZUS.

Documents and deadlines

Frequently asked questions

Does the app have to draw up the accident card?

The card is drawn up by the entity for which you perform work under a contract of mandate (Article 5(1)(6) of the Accident Insurance Act). When your contract is with a fleet partner, this is usually the partner. Whether in a specific case it can be the app, the provisions do not say directly.

I have my own business. Who establishes the circumstances of the accident?

ZUS, in an accident card (Article 5(1)(8) of the Accident Insurance Act). You report the accident to the ZUS unit competent for the registered address of your business. An accident at work is then an event that occurs while performing ordinary activities connected with running the business (Article 3(3)(8)).

I disagree with the accident card. What can I do?

Submit comments and objections before it is completed (§ 4(2) of the Regulation). They will be attached to the card (§ 4(3)). If ZUS refuses benefits on this basis, you can appeal against the ZUS decision as instructed in the decision.

Useful tools

• PIP complaint generator
• Workplace incident diary

Related guides

• Accident at work: what must the employer do and what rights does the injured employee have?
• Courier or app driver: who is your employer and what contract do you have?
• Fleet partner does not pay or makes deductions: what to do?
• I am working without a written contract. What does this mean and what can I do?
• PIP, ZUS or labour court: who should you turn to with a problem at work?

Sources (documents in Polish)

• Ustawa o systemie ubezpieczeń społecznych, tekst ujednolicony ISAP, stan 2026-07-28 (art. 6 ust. 1 pkt 4 i 5, art. 6 ust. 4, art. 12 ust. 1, art. 13 pkt 2 i 4, art. 36 ust. 2)
• Ustawa o ubezpieczeniu społecznym z tytułu wypadków przy pracy i chorób zawodowych, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1644 (art. 3, 5, 6, 21, 22)
• Rozporządzenie Ministra Rodziny i Polityki Społecznej w sprawie trybu uznawania zdarzenia za wypadek przy pracy, kwalifikacji prawnej zdarzenia, wzoru karty wypadku i terminu jej sporządzenia, Dz.U. 2022 poz. 223
• Ustawa o Państwowej Inspekcji Pracy, tekst ujednolicony ISAP (art. 10 ust. 1 pkt 3, art. 13 pkt 1)
• Kodeks pracy, tekst jednolity Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245 (art. 22, 234)
• ZUS, rodzaje świadczeń z tytułu wypadków przy pracy i chorób zawodowych

Sources checked on 15 October 2026. Law as at 15 October 2026.

Change history

• 15 October 2026: First publication.