Income protection, also called sick pay or Krankentagegeld, pays you a fixed daily amount if you're unable to work because of illness or an accident. This article covers how it works when you're self-employed, where the timeline differs from the one that applies to employees.
Can I get income protection if I'm self-employed?
Income protection is available on all of our Private health insurance (PKV) plans if you earn income from self-employment. It matters more when you're self-employed, because there's no employer continuing to pay your salary while you're unable to work.
When does income protection start paying if I'm self-employed and can't work?
Income protection pays from day 43 of your incapacity to work, counted from the first day a doctor certifies that you're unable to work. This is the starting day we include by default on your Private health insurance (PKV) plan when income protection is added. For employees, day 43 lines up with the 42 days their employer keeps paying their salary. As a self-employed person, you have no continued salary payments, so you need to cover the first 42 days from your own savings or income.
Once payments begin, the daily amount is paid for every calendar day you remain unable to work, and it's paid for the period your incapacity to work is documented. You can remove income protection from your plan if you don't want it, or adjust your daily amount, through a coverage change request.
How much income protection can I insure as a self-employed person?
Your daily amount can't be higher than your net income from self-employment, converted to a daily figure. For self-employed people, the reference figure is the net income from the last completed calendar year before the provider is notified of the claim, or the last completed calendar year before your incapacity to work began if you were already unable to work at that point. To estimate your daily amount, divide your average monthly net income by 30.
If your net income falls for more than a short period, let us know, since your daily amount can't be higher than your income. You can request a lower daily amount yourself: open your Private health insurance (PKV) policy page in your Feather account, click "Manage this policy", and select 'Coverage change request'. Lowering your daily amount also lowers your premium, and decreasing income protection is treated as a downgrade, so no health assessment is needed.
Is there a waiting period before I can claim income protection?
Income protection has a general waiting period of 3 months from the start of your cover, so illness-related claims that begin within those first 3 months aren't paid. The waiting period doesn't apply to accidents, which are covered from the start date. A longer waiting period of 8 months applies to the daily amount paid during maternity protection periods and on the day of delivery.
If you had private health insurance (PKV) or public health insurance (GKV) immediately before, the time you were continuously insured there is credited toward these waiting periods, up to the level of your previous daily sickness benefit entitlement. You can contact our support team for more assistance or additional resources.
When does my income protection start paying out during a period of sick leave?
Your income protection starts paying out from the day set by the tariff you chose, counted from the first day you're unable to work. This is a separate thing from the waiting period above, which applies only at the start of your policy. For example, a policy with a 43rd-day tariff pays your daily amount from day 43 of the sick leave onward.
When do income protection payments end?
Income protection has no fixed end date. The daily amount is paid if the incapacity to work is medically certified. Payments stop when you're certified fit to work again, or when occupational disability occurs. Occupational disability is the one worth planning around, since that's where income protection stops and a separate occupational disability policy would need to take over. Your cover also ends if you give up gainful work, start a retirement pension, or move your residence outside the area where your policy applies.
What happens to my income protection if I stop being self-employed?
Get in touch if your employment status changes. We'll check whether your income protection needs to change with it.
I live in Germany but work for a company abroad. How does income protection work for me?
Income protection works the same way whether your employer is based in Germany or abroad: it pays a fixed daily amount if you're unable to work because of illness or an accident, starting from day 43 by default on our Private health insurance (PKV) plans. What differs is how long your own employer keeps paying you while you're sick, because that depends on your contract and the law that applies to it. German employment law provides 42 days of continued pay, which is why day 43 is the standard starting point, but a contract with a company abroad doesn't always work that way. We'd recommend keeping income protection on your plan either way, since without income protection, an extended illness can leave you without income for months.