Situations where voluntary income protection coverage might be a good idea

You will be able to take out voluntary income protection coverage with us if you become self-employed immediately after you stop working for an employer or after your benefit ends. As a self-employed person, you can get coverage for illness or occupational disability, but there are certain criteria you must meet: 

• You must apply for voluntary income protection coverage within 13 weeks of your automatic coverage through your employer or benefit (‘verplicht verzekering’) ending. Your new income protection coverage will then start 1 day after your previous coverage ends. 
• You must have been covered for illness or occupational disability through your employer or benefit for at least 1 year before becoming self-employed (with a gap of no more than 60 days). Or, if you had this type of coverage for less than 1 year, you must have had voluntary income protection coverage with us before that.

If you are self-employed but are also working for an employer or receiving a benefit

If you are working for an employer or receiving a benefit while also being self-employed, you will likely have coverage for illness or occupational disability for the hours you work or are receiving a benefit. It is up to you to decide whether you need extra coverage for the hours spent on your self-employed activities. If you have partial coverage through your employer or benefit, you can apply for voluntary income protection coverage at any time, not just within 13 weeks of your full coverage ending.

Should you be receiving an unemployment benefit and have qualified for the UWV start-up scheme (‘startersregeling’), then you will not need extra coverage with us for as long as your start-up period lasts. If you are receiving a WAO, WIA or sickness benefit and you want to take out extra coverage with us, you might be able to do so, depending on your situation. We recommend contacting your UWV adviser for more information in such instances. You will not be able to take out voluntary income protection coverage with us if you are receiving a Wajong or WAZ benefit.

Keep in mind that in order to take out voluntary income protection coverage, you must first have had at least 3 years of coverage through your employer or benefit.

If you are self-employed and pregnant

If you have voluntary income protection coverage with us for illness, you will be entitled to maternity pay if you become pregnant. This means that during the final weeks before your due date and in the period after giving birth, you will receive 100% of the amount you are covered for. If you are self-employed and do not have coverage for illness, you might qualify for maternity pay for the self-employed (‘ZEZ-uitkering’).

As a director and majority shareholder (‘directeur-grootaandeelhouder’), you do not need to take out coverage for illness with us. Your company is legally required to continue paying your salary for the first 2 years that you are ill. However, you can take out coverage with us for occupational disability. 

Please note: Your company is not required to pay your salary during pregnancy and after child birth. As a director and majority shareholder, you can take out voluntary coverage with us for those 16 weeks.

You will be able to take out voluntary income protection coverage with us for illness, occupational disability and unemployment if you meet all of the following criteria:

• You provide home help (‘dienstverlener aan huis’) services or offer housekeeping services for the elderly or people with disabilities (‘alfahulp’). 
• You work less than 4 days a week for 1 or more households.

If you are paid directly by a client who is receiving a personal budget (‘persoonsgebonden budget’), you will not need to take out coverage for unemployment as you will already be covered for this regardless of how many days you work. 

Before taking out coverage with us, keep the following in mind:

• You will only be covered for an amount that reflects the income you would lose if you were to become ill, develop an occupational disability or become unemployed. 
• You can only take out coverage for unemployment if you also take out coverage for illness. The amount you are covered for must be the same for both types of coverage. 
• You can take out voluntary income protection coverage at any time, but it will only start from the day we receive your application. 
• You can claim tax deductions on your income tax return (‘aangifte inkomstenbelasting’) for premiums paid for illness and occupational disability coverage. 
• You cannot claim income protection payments immediately if you become ill. A waiting period of at least 6 weeks usually applies before you start receiving payments.

If you have an employer and temporarily stop working or have a career break, you will not be covered for illness or occupational disability during the time you are not working. You do have the option of taking out coverage for illness or occupational disability if you meet the following criteria: 

• Your career break lasts no more than 1 year. 
• You apply for voluntary income protection coverage within 13 weeks of your last working day. Your coverage will then start 1 day after we receive your application. 

It is important that you carefully consider whether income protection coverage will truly benefit you during your career break. If you would like to discuss this with us, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You might not always have coverage for illness, occupational disability and unemployment when working abroad. 

If you will be working in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you will likely be covered in these situations. Keep in mind, however, that in some countries, the benefits for occupational disability are lower than in the Netherlands. You might want to consider taking out extra coverage for occupational disability in such cases. 

In countries with a reciprocal social security agreement with the Netherlands (‘verdragsland’), your coverage will depend on the specific agreements made with that country. You will be able to take out coverage with us for illness, occupational disability and unemployment if needed. 

If you will be working in a country that does not have a reciprocal social security agreement with the Netherlands, you will not be covered for illness, occupational disability or unemployment. In that case, you can choose to take out this type of coverage with us.

What are the criteria when working abroad?

To take out voluntary income protection coverage with us, you must meet 1 of the following conditions:

• You will be working abroad for a Dutch organisation or the Dutch government and will officially be emigrating to that country. 
• You will be working abroad for a foreign company but will keep your official residence in the Netherlands. 
• You will be working abroad for a development cooperation organisation (‘ontwikkelingssamenwerking’) or an intergovernmental organisation (‘volkenrechtelijke organisatie’) such as the United Nations.

Please note: If you will be working abroad for a Dutch organisation and your official residence will remain in the Netherlands, you will be covered for illness, occupational disability and unemployment through your employer and will not need coverage with us.