Traumatic increase: SFR will increase the maximum insurance payout

Insurance payments from the Social Fund of Russia (SFR) are received by employees who have suffered an occupational injury. Starting next year, the maximum amount of payments will be increased. However, the insured event must be registered in compliance with all the rules. The details are in the Izvestia article.

Payment growth

The Social Fund of Russia (SFR) has allocated 104.7 billion rubles in its draft budget for insurance payments alone. This fund will grow to 108.5 billion rubles in 2027 and to 112.5 billion rubles in 2028.

At the same time, the maximum monthly payment amount has been increased to 127,218 rubles next year. The indexation of this payment will be annual. So, in 2027, the bar will be raised to 132,307 rubles, in 2028 — 137,599 rubles.

The draft budget also provides for the rehabilitation of victims in the amount of 12.2 billion rubles, and for the prevention of an increase in occupational injuries — 42.1 billion rubles.

More attention

The statistics of accidents at work are disappointing: by the end of 2024, both the number of incidents and the proportion of cases with serious consequences increased. This is explicitly stated in the July letter of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (No. 15-3/10/B-11850 dated July 14, 2025).

Among the most common reasons are unsatisfactory organization of work, violation of traffic rules, non-compliance with the technological process, as well as disregard for safety rules and requirements by employees, for example, lack of personal protective equipment during work.

Accidents with serious consequences were most often caused by the negligence of management, which did not ensure proper control and labor discipline, a weak occupational safety management system and violation of the rules of access to dangerous work sites. Most often, severe injuries are caused by falling from a height.

This statistic is relevant this year as well — in just the week from September 29 to October 5, a number of industrial accidents occurred, says Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing partner of the VMT Consult analytical agency.

— So, during the marking near Samara, one worker was killed and another was seriously injured — an accident involving trucks occurred nearby. A similar case took place last week in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. In the Tambov region, a loader crushed a worker at an agricultural enterprise. A worker fell from a height of the 14th floor at the construction site of a building on the Volokolamsk Highway. And in the Perm Region, a worker who dismantled a bridge died. Another common danger is electric shock. Two electricians were killed — in the Nizhny Novgorod region and in Ufa. A mining machinist has died at EuroChem as a result of a rock collapse. And the case that got into all the media was the tragedy at the Avtozavodskaya bank," she lists.

According to Kosareva, the problem really exists and requires a lot of preventive work and decent compensation for the victims and their families.

— Budgets for the prevention of accidents and for the payment of damages to victims are akin to communicating vessels. The more attention to preventive measures (most accidents are the result of organizational mistakes!) and the impact of these actions, the lower the number of injuries and the amount of compensation for damage will be. Budgets of 42 billion rubles for injury prevention are thus fully justified in the long run," she believes.

The hardest part

The most important thing for receiving the payment in the maximum possible amount is the correct documents that will prove the very fact of the injury and its connection with the production process, Ekaterina Kosareva believes.

— To do this, the company, in accordance with the requirements of the legislation, creates an internal commission that will properly issue protocols for the inspection of the accident site and an act in the form of H-1. There is no single set of documents, as there is a wide variety of circumstances of the accident. Everything will be useful: from documents provided by the ambulance or fire department to explanatory statements with witness statements," she says.

According to the expert, the matter is complicated by the fact that not all employers are ready to admit the fact of an industrial injury, which they are obliged to report to Rostrud and SFR. Injuries can also be misqualified in a medical facility.

— To delay payment, it is enough to enter the wrong code — a "domestic" injury instead of an "industrial" one. Such cases, in turn, are taken over by the local territorial authorities of the SFR, and the documents are redone correctly," says Kosareva.

Comprehensive work

The state, despite the difficulties, clearly implements a powerful social policy, says Yulia Makarenko, Deputy Director of the Banking Institute for Development.

— For example, payments in the form of maternity capital and child benefits in the amount of 10 trillion rubles are planned for the next three years. 2 trillion rubles will be allocated for the implementation of the Family mortgage program, 410 billion rubles for the repair and construction of schools and kindergartens, and this is a small part of the population's support, taking into account the initiatives being discussed (for example, compensation for land plots and a reduction in the loan rate for large families). And we consider support in the form of additional funds to compensate for damage caused by work injuries as another way to support the family in a difficult moment," says the financier.

However, Makarenko says, increasing the maximum amount of insurance benefit does not mean that every victim will receive this money.

— The severity of the injuries, the period of disability, the conclusion of the medical council, the salary of the employee — these are the components that the SFR will focus on when determining the amount of compensation. The vast majority of employees will receive less than the established upper limit," she argues.

Izvestia sent requests to the SFR, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance to assess the compliance of the announced budget with the projected number of occupational injuries. No responses have been received at the time of publication.