Becoming self-employed: getting health, accident and daily allowance insurance right

What changes when you become self-employed

As an employee, you are protected against the major risks through your employer, often without noticing: your employer insures you compulsorily against accidents, continues to pay your salary for a while if you are ill, registers you with the pension fund and pays contributions to OASI, DI, IC and unemployment insurance. With self-employment, almost all of this falls away. OASI/DI leaflet 2.02 puts it briefly: self-employed persons are not insured against unemployment, are not subject to compulsory accident insurance and are not subject to mandatory occupational pension provision.

Only one insurance stays as it is: basic health insurance under the KVG. It depends on your place of residence, not on your employment. You do not have to change health insurer, but you must include accident cover again if you had suspended it as an employee.

The legal form is important. According to SECO’s SME portal, owners of sole proprietorships and of general and limited partnerships count as self-employed for social insurance purposes. If you set up a GmbH or AG and work in it, you are an employee of your own company. The rules for employees apply to you, including compulsory UVG insurance. Whether you are self-employed for OASI purposes is decided by the compensation office case by case, not by your contract.

Step by step: how to insure yourself as a self-employed person

1. Clarify your status with the compensation office. Register with the OASI compensation office as self-employed. It checks whether you work under your own name, for your own account and bear your own economic risk (OASI/DI leaflet 2.02). If you work for only one client, it usually classifies you as employed.
2. Work out when your UVG cover ends. Your last employer’s accident insurance ends on the 31st day after the day on which your entitlement to at least half your salary ends (Art. 3 para. 2 UVG). An extended cover agreement under the UVG, which your previous insurer must offer, protects you for up to six months longer (Art. 3 para. 3 UVG). It is intended for transition periods, not as a permanent solution.
3. Arrange accident cover: health insurer or voluntary UVG insurance. When your UVG cover ends, your health insurer covers accidents again by law (Art. 8 para. 2 KVG). Tell it the date so that it includes accident cover again. If you also want a daily allowance and a pension after an accident, look into voluntary insurance under the UVG (section below).
4. Use the right of transfer from the collective daily allowance. If you were insured through your employer in daily sickness allowance insurance under the KVG, you may transfer to individual insurance with the same insurer without new reservations. You have three months from the written notification to do so (Art. 71 KVG). This is often the simplest route to a daily allowance without a new health check.
5. Review your basic health insurance. With a new income, your budget often changes. Review your deductible and model; you can switch at the statutory dates shown by the deadline calculator.
6. Budget for contributions. Plan for OASI, DI and IC contributions of up to 10.0 % of your income, plus the premiums for accident and daily allowance insurance and, if applicable, payments into voluntary occupational pension provision (Art. 4 BVG).

Accidents: health insurer or voluntary UVG insurance?

Social health insurance pays in the event of an accident if no accident insurance covers it (Art. 1a para. 2 let. b KVG). So as a self-employed person without UVG insurance, you are not without cover: your health insurer pays for doctors, hospital and therapy as for an illness. But you pay the deductible and retention fee, and there is no daily allowance for loss of earnings.

The alternative is voluntary insurance under the UVG. Self-employed persons resident in Switzerland and their family members who work with them can take out voluntary insurance (Art. 4 para. 1 UVG). The rules of compulsory insurance apply to them by analogy (Art. 5 para. 1 UVG), so also medical treatment without a deductible, a daily allowance of 80 % of insured earnings from the third day after the day of the accident (Art. 16 and 17 UVG) and pensions. The details are in the ordinance:

• Who offers it: Suva for self-employed persons without employees in its sectors, such as construction, industry or woodworking (Art. 135 para. 2 UVV); for everyone else, the registered insurers, including insurance companies and health insurers (Art. 135 para. 3 UVV).
• Minimum earnings: The insured earnings are agreed when the contract is concluded, for the self-employed at least 45 % of the maximum amount of CHF 148,200, i.e. CHF 66,690 (Art. 138 and Art. 22 para. 1 UVV). The premium is based on these earnings.
• Contract: It is in writing and sets out the start and minimum duration (Art. 136 UVV). After that, you can cancel with at most three months’ notice to the end of an insurance year (Art. 137 para. 3 UVV).
• Refusal possible: In the case of significant and permanent damage to health, the insurer may refuse to conclude the contract (Art. 134 para. 3 UVV).

If you have voluntary UVG insurance, your health insurer can reduce your premium for the period of accident cover, but does not have to (Art. 91a para. 3 KVV). The obligation to reduce it only applies to persons with compulsory insurance (Art. 91a para. 2 KVV), and the reduction is at most 7 % (Art. 91a para. 4 KVV). The comparison of both routes, with benefits and contract details, is covered in depth in the article Accident insurance for the self-employed.

What accident cover in basic health insurance costs

If you include accident cover again, the premium rises. For comparison, the monthly premiums 2026, municipality of Zurich (region 1), adults born in 1991, all models; source FOPH:

Each row shows different offers; how much your own health insurer charges for accident cover is shown by the premium calculator with and without accident cover. The FOPH publishes next year’s premiums at the end of September.

Daily sickness allowance: nobody continues to pay your salary

For employees, the employer must pay the salary for a limited time in the event of illness, three weeks in the first year of service (Art. 324a CO). This continued payment of salary does not exist for the self-employed. If your income stops because of illness, rent, leasing and premiums still have to be paid. The only protection is daily sickness allowance insurance that you take out yourself.

It comes in two forms. Daily allowance insurance under the KVG can be taken out by anyone who lives or works in Switzerland and is between their 15th and 65th birthday (Art. 67 para. 1 KVG). Every health insurer must offer it in its area of activity and accept every eligible person (Art. 5 let. h and i KVAG). It may add a reservation for existing illnesses, which lapses after five years at the latest (Art. 69 KVG). The daily allowance is paid from an incapacity for work of at least 50 %, for at least 720 days within 900 days (Art. 72 KVG). A longer waiting period lowers the premium (Art. 76 para. 2 KVG).

Daily allowance insurance under the ICA is a private contract. The amount, waiting period, duration and acceptance are governed by the terms and conditions; the insurer may refuse you after asking health questions. What counts are the general terms and conditions and the information from the insurer. How to match the waiting period and the amount of the daily allowance to your income is explained in the article Daily sickness allowance for the self-employed.

OASI and occupational pension provision: what you pay yourself

As a self-employed person, you pay the OASI, DI and IC contributions alone. In 2026, that is 10.0 % of income from self-employment (OASI 8.1 %, DI 1.4 %, IC 0.5 %). If your annual income is below CHF 60,500, a declining scale applies down to 5.371 %; below CHF 10,100, you owe the minimum contribution of CHF 530 (OASI/DI leaflet 2.02, as of 01.01.2026). The compensation office also charges administrative costs. There is no unemployment insurance for the self-employed.

Occupational pension provision is voluntary for the self-employed (Art. 4 BVG). You can take out voluntary insurance with a pension fund, for example that of your professional association. SECO’s SME portal also points out that a daily sickness allowance ends after about two years (720 days, Art. 72 para. 3 KVG), after which only earning incapacity insurance pays a pension. Pension provision and incapacity for work are separate topics that we only touch on here.

Sample calculation: Nina becomes self-employed

Example with fictitious people. Nina is 35, a graphic designer and lives in Zurich. Her last working day with salary is 30.06.2026. From 01.07.2026, she works for several clients with a sole proprietorship. In her first year, she expects an income subject to OASI contributions of CHF 78,000 (assumed).

Whether Nina stays with her health insurer for accidents or chooses voluntary UVG insurance depends on how long she can bear a loss of income herself. That is a judgement call, not a calculation with one right answer.

Special cases

GmbH or AG instead of a sole proprietorship

If you work in your own GmbH or AG, you are its employee. The company must insure you compulsorily against work-related accidents, and from 8 hours a week also against non-work-related accidents (Art. 1a UVG, Art. 13 UVV). You can then suspend accident cover with your health insurer (Art. 8 para. 1 KVG). The company owes you continued payment of salary in the event of illness like any other employee; without daily allowance insurance, the company bears this risk itself.

Employed part-time, partly self-employed

If you keep a job of at least 8 hours a week, you remain insured under the UVG through this employer in your free time too. For your self-employed activity, you can nevertheless take out voluntary UVG insurance (Art. 134 para. 1 UVV). The employer’s daily allowance only covers the salary from your employment.

First employees

If you hire someone yourself, you become an employer: you must insure the person compulsorily under the UVG (Art. 1a and 69 UVG), pay OASI contributions and continue to pay their salary in the event of illness. What this involves is explained in the article First employees.

Family members working in the business and the reference age

If your partner works in the business without being compulsorily insured, they can also take out voluntary insurance under the UVG (Art. 4 para. 1 UVG), with minimum earnings of 30 % of the maximum amount (Art. 138 UVV). Anyone who has reached the OASI reference age can only take out new voluntary UVG insurance if they were compulsorily insured for one year immediately beforehand (Art. 134 para. 2 UVV). Daily allowance insurance under the KVG can no longer be newly taken out after your 65th birthday (Art. 67 para. 1 KVG).

Common mistakes

• Not including accident cover again. After your UVG cover ends, your health insurer does cover accidents by law, but it can claim the premium share for accident cover retroactively. Report the date straight away.
• Letting the right of transfer lapse. After three months, the simplest route to a daily sickness allowance without new reservations is gone (Art. 71 para. 2 KVG).
• Believing your health insurer pays for loss of earnings. Basic health insurance pays for treatment, never for loss of earnings, neither for illness nor for accidents.
• Choosing a waiting period that is too long, without reserves. A waiting period of 30, 60 or more days lowers the premium. You must be able to bridge these days from your own resources.
• Answering health questions inaccurately. With a daily allowance under the ICA and with voluntary UVG insurance, an incorrect statement can lead to exclusion or termination (Art. 137 para. 4 UVV).

You will find all articles on this topic in the section Self-employed and SMEs. What employers owe in the event of illness is shown in Continued payment of salary during illness. You can compare your basic health insurance in the premium calculator, and the break-even points of the deductibles in the deductible calculator. If you would like a personal assessment of daily allowance and accident insurance, you can request advice.