Self-employed and unable to work: what you actually receive

A flat rate, not a percentage: the difference that changes everything

An employee who is unable to work receives a percentage of their pay. A self-employed person receives a daily flat rate, the amount of which depends only on their family situation. Whether you earn €25,000 or €120,000 a year, the NIHDI (INAMI/RIZIV) pays the same.

The amounts as at 1 September 2026 are €82.64 a day with dependants, €65.56 for a single person and €50.28 for a cohabitant, on a six-day-week basis. Per month, that comes to €2,148.64, €1,704.56 and €1,307.28 respectively.

The consequence is mechanical and harsh: the higher your income, the lower your replacement rate. The table below puts figures on it for a self-employed person with dependants.

The timing: from when, and until when

The waiting period was abolished on 1 July 2019. The benefit is now payable from the first day of incapacity, provided the incapacity lasts at least 8 days. A four-day bout of flu therefore gives no entitlement; ten days off work are compensated from the first day.

The primary incapacity period covers the first twelve months. After that, the invalidity period begins; its daily flat rate is also set according to your family situation, and increased if a cessation of business is recognised.

Two formalities determine everything: the declaration of incapacity must be sent to your health insurance fund (mutuality) using your doctor's certificate, and meeting the declaration deadline avoids a reduction in the benefit. It is a routine administrative step, but it is the only way into the system.

Income protection insurance: closing the gap, and at what price

An income protection insurance policy is an individual insurance contract that pays a benefit on top of the NIHDI payments. It is the only structural answer to the gap highlighted above.

Insurers generally cap the insured benefit at 80% of professional income: you cannot insure yourself for more than you earn, the idea being to prevent incapacity from becoming financially preferable to working.

The factor that weighs most on the premium is the policy's waiting period, not to be confused with the one under the NIHDI scheme. It sets how long you wait before the insurer starts paying: 30, 60, 90, 180, 365 days are the most common durations. A 90-day waiting period costs significantly less than a 30-day one, and it is manageable if your cash reserves can absorb three months.

Premiums are deductible as business expenses, and the benefit received is taxable as replacement income under personal income tax (IPP/PB). This symmetry is normal, but it has to be factored into the calculation: the net benefit is lower than the gross insured benefit.

• Age when you take out the policy
• Occupation (risk class)
• Chosen waiting period
• Insured monthly benefit
• Term of cover (up to age 60 / 65 / 67)
• Smoking and medical history

The social PLCI/VAPZ: cover many people don't know they have

The social PLCI/VAPZ allocates at least 10% of the premium to a solidarity component, which covers incapacity for work, invalidity and death in particular. In return, its ceiling is higher than that of the ordinary version: €4,701.54 instead of €4,086.34, or 9.4% of reference income instead of 8.17%.

In practice, this component often takes over the pension payments during the incapacity, sometimes along with a benefit. The terms vary from one insurer to another, which is why you need to read the contract rather than the brochure.

For a self-employed person hesitating between the ordinary and the social PLCI/VAPZ, the trade-off is therefore as follows: the 10% allocated to solidarity is not a cut in your pension capital, it is cover. If you have no income protection insurance, this cover is the only one you have beyond the NIHDI flat rate.

What to check today, in four points

Incapacity for work is the risk the self-employed most often under-insure, precisely because it never happens until the day it does. Four checks are enough to know where you stand.

• Your real replacement rate: divide €2,148.64 (or €1,704.56 if you are single) by your usual monthly income.
• Your unavoidable fixed costs: business rent, leasing, subscriptions, loan repayments. They keep running.
• Your income protection insurance policy: does it exist, what benefit, what waiting period, and how long has it been since it was raised in line with your income?
• Your PLCI/VAPZ: ordinary or social? And if it is social, what exactly does the solidarity component cover?

Further reading

The pages on this site that explore each of the points covered here in more depth.

• Paid holidays for the self-employed: rights and provisionWhy time off you choose to take is never compensated, and how to fund it.
• Birth leave for the self-employed: days and allowanceWhat the NISSE pays the father or co-parent who stops work for a birth.
• Informal carer allowance: amount and rulesIf it is a loved one, not you, who needs care.
• Bridging right: conditions and pitfallsThe safety net when your business stops against your will.
• Income protection insurance in detailHow the policy works, premium factors and taxation.
• Ordinary or social PLCI/VAPZWhat the solidarity component really covers, and what it costs.
• Social security contribution exemptionsWhat happens to your contributions during a recognised incapacity.
• Hospitalisation insuranceThe other side of protection, and its different tax treatment.
• The real cost of social security contributionsWhat you pay, and what rights it actually gives you.

Frequently asked questions