Self-employed and in disability rehabilitation: what happens to your sickness benefits during the programme?

A rehabilitation placement does not establish a payment

Swiss disability insurance can fund vocational rehabilitation. A disability daily allowance may also be awarded, subject to conditions, to help cover living costs during the programme. An invitation to an assessment, a decision approving a programme and a daily allowance statement are different documents. If you are already receiving sickness benefits, give the insurer the confirmed dates and ask whether taking part changes its assessment of your capacity for work or the way it calculates benefits.

Match the days, not just the bank transfers

Suppose the private insurer scheduled 15 payable days at CHF 160, giving CHF 2,400. A disability decision grants CHF 90 a day for ten of those same days, or CHF 900. Adding CHF 2,400 and CHF 900 gives CHF 3,300, but do not budget for that figure without checking. If, purely for illustration, the full CHF 900 were offset against the sickness benefit, the sickness insurer would pay CHF 1,500 and the total would be CHF 2,400. The actual statements and the applicable rule determine the outcome.

Identify what the policy coordinates

Ask whether your sickness insurer applies a third-party benefits clause, which disability benefits it covers and from what dates. Read the terms that apply to you: social insurance rules and private policy terms are not interchangeable. Also ask whether days in rehabilitation count towards the maximum sickness benefit duration and how an interruption to the programme would affect the calculation.

Plan for a gap between payments and bills

Taking part in a programme can help you prepare for different work without immediately restoring the income your business used to invoice. Keep one line for personal earnings and another for rent, subscriptions and other fixed overheads. If benefits may arrive after the bills are due, check how many weeks your reserves can carry using only confirmed income. Keep a buffer while the two organisations reconcile the dates.

Prepare for two separate conversations

Ask the compensation office for the payable days, amounts and recipient of the disability allowance. Ask the sickness insurer for a statement covering the same period, with the clause it applied. Keep the decisions, payment statements and evidence of any phased return to your own business. If their calendars differ, have those dates explained before comparing amounts or taking on new spending.