[Compensation tables for tinnitus as a physical defect in private accident insurance].

Until 2004, tinnitus was vieved as a psychic reaction according to the provisions of private accident insurance and therefore excluded from compensation. In two recent judgements of the Federal Supreme Court in Germany the assessment of tinnitus in private accident insurance has been newly defined. According to this jurisdiction, the compensation of tinnitus is possible, when a proven physical defect in the inner ear or the auditory pathway (hearing loss) can be established and has a causal connection to the accident. This leads to the question of how a quantitative assessment of tinnitus can be carried out. The compensation should be in accordance to the general terms and conditions of private accident insurance. A compensation table is proposed, which recognises the physical defect of tinnitus and is based on medical and scientific findings of the relation between hearing loss and tinnitus.