Annual turnover hides the critical month
A self-employed guide may earn most income in winter and still collect older invoices early in a period of incapacity. That month’s cash balance therefore does not itself show what the illness has cost. Voluntary daily sickness insurance covers temporary loss according to the legal regime and policy. A quoted premium or benefit figure does not establish that cancelled bookings, refundable deposits and overheads are all insured.
The same absence at two different times
Assume two hypothetical 21-day absences and a policy with a 30-day waiting period for each, with neither counted as a continuation of an earlier claim. A peak-season absence may cancel CHF 6,000 of planned work; off season, CHF 1,500. In this example the waiting period is not reached in either case. That does not make the first loss CHF 6,000 of profit: subtract costs avoided, identify actual refunds and distinguish work merely rescheduled.
Plan week by week
Separate older invoices likely to be collected, new sales lost, variable costs avoided and fixed payments. Add a scenario where incapacity continues beyond the waiting period. Ask the insurer how the earnings basis is determined for uneven activity, what evidence it accepts and whether other benefits change the calculation. Check the minimum incapacity threshold, maximum duration, exclusions and actual earliest possible payment date.
Use the shortfall months to assess cover
Compare two waiting periods on the same timeline, with their cost and your available reserve. Keep household savings separate. Include only confirmed insurance receipts and leave room for a customer or insurer to pay later. This shows what risk you retain before you increase a daily figure that may never apply in the scenario you encounter most often.
Check deposits and rescheduling
A customer deposit may not be yours to keep if the service is cancelled. Record what must be repaid, what will simply move to another date and when final payment might arrive. Do the same for subcontractors if you plan to keep some jobs running. Include those costs in an insurance scenario only if the policy expressly covers them. This lets you compare a peak-season absence and a later absence without confusing lost work with the cash needed to keep the business operating.
Sources & further reading
OFSP / FOPH — Assurance facultative d’indemnités journalières