Protection
Personal accident cover 24h/24
An accident always comes unexpectedly. As a self-employed person, your income falls away while your fixed costs continue, and your guaranteed income often only steps in after 30 days.
- Who we help
- Self-employed people and company directors, including those who, due to an existing or previous illness, cannot get cover under a guaranteed income policy.
- The tax benefit
- Complementary to your guaranteed income, with faster and broader intervention in the event of an accident.
Moving from employee to self-employed? Then take note.
What is a PO 24/24?
This policy insures you 24/7 against loss of income due to an accident, but not in the event of illness. The policy provides a benefit in the event of temporary and permanent incapacity for work, based on an insured conventional income. A benefit in the event of death from an accident is also provided, as well as the reimbursement of medical costs resulting from an accident.
Where does the name "24/24" come from?
We use the name "24/24" to indicate the difference between a classic, legally mandatory occupational accident insurance for employees on the one hand, and a policy for the self-employed on the other. Occupational accident insurance for employees is regulated by law and intervenes for accidents during working hours or during the commute between home and work. For a self-employed person, this is not a legally mandatory insurance, and moreover the line between private and professional activities is very hard to draw for a self-employed person. That is precisely why, for self-employed people who take out such a contract on their own initiative, we immediately insure all activities, both private and professional, and therefore around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The four covers included in a PO 24/24
This policy provides compensation for bodily accidents arising from professional activities as well as during private life. Cover is therefore provided around the clock, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. There are still some differences in cover depending on whether they work with fixed multipliers or with a "statutory system" cover (see below). Below, we base ourselves on a "statutory system" cover.
Cover 1: A temporary invalidity annuity per day
The PO 24/24 policy provides a daily benefit, for example from the 8th day after the accident until the resumption of work (on recovery) or until the consolidation of the permanent invalidity. This daily annuity for temporary invalidity is calculated very simply on the basis of the insured conventional income: daily annuity for temporary invalidity = insured conventional income x 90% / 365 days. Example = 45.000 euro x 90% / 365 = 110 euro per day, from the 8th day until recovery or consolidation. In the event of partial disability, the benefits are granted on the basis of the actual invalidity percentage awarded. Sometimes the daily annuity is granted as soon as the incapacity exceeds 50%. Because the benefit is temporary, paid per day, and often already from the 8th day, the PO 24/24 policy is complementary to the disability cover, which pays out up to, say, age 67, up to a maximum of 80% of the reference income, and at the earliest after 1 month of incapacity for work. A PO 24/24 therefore intervenes sooner, for a higher amount, but for a shorter period. In any case, the daily annuity stops after consolidation or after 1 or 2 years, depending on the type of policy.
Cover 2: A capital sum paid out in the event of permanent invalidity
Let us say this is the most important component of a PO 24/24 policy. If, after the accident and after the recovery period, the invalidity becomes permanent, the beneficiary of a PO 24/24 receives a one-off capital sum based on the established invalidity percentage. That percentage is then often determined on the basis of the objective physiological impairments via the so-called statutory OBSI scale, and not on the basis of economic and partly subjective criteria. Moreover, the insured capital sums are generally quite high. These sums can then typically be used, for example, to renovate the family home or to purchase an adapted vehicle. The permanent invalidity capital paid out in the case of a PO 24/24 is calculated using the insured conventional income multiplied by a statutory age coefficient: permanent invalidity capital = insured conventional income x age coefficient. Example for a 35 year old = 45.000 euro x 17,4510 = 785.295 euro maximum payout. Compensation is often paid from an invalidity of 10% or more, on the understanding that an invalidity of 10% and more is treated on the basis of the actual invalidity percentage, and that an invalidity level of 67% or more is treated, for the calculation of the contractual compensation, as equal to an invalidity of 100%.
Cover 3: A capital sum paid out in the event of death from an accident
If death follows the accident, a one-off capital sum is paid out to the surviving relatives. This capital is made up of three components: a capital sum for the spouse or legally cohabiting partner, often 30% of the permanent invalidity capital determined above; a capital sum for the funeral costs, calculated as 30 daily wages, with a minimum (3.757 euro, figure for October 2021); and an orphan's annuity converted into capital for the children entitled to child benefit, based on statutory conversion coefficients. The payout can, oddly enough for the same insurance premium, vary from a minimum of the funeral costs up to a capital of 30% to 50% of the permanent invalidity capital (for example, if there are still many young children in the family). Very often, when paying out the capital for permanent invalidity from an accident or death from an accident, the insurer does not seek recovery from a liable third party. Nor does the insurer take into account capital paid out elsewhere. In plain language, this means you are certain of your payout under the PO 24/24 policy. And that if a third party is liable for the injury caused, the insurer will still pay out the capital provided for. This avoids you or your relatives having to wait for the outcome of a lengthy legal procedure. But it also means that you or your relatives, in addition to the payout under the PO 24/24 policy, can obtain additional compensation from a liable third party should you pursue that legal procedure after all, for example because a claim is also made for the other party to compensate the material damage you suffered.
Cover 4: A reimbursement of medical costs
Finally, a lesser-known component of the PO 24/24. The policy also provides for the reimbursement of medical and other costs resulting from an accident, but limited to the difference between the actual costs and the amount reimbursed by the victim's health insurance fund. The reimbursement is made on the basis of the nomenclature set by the RIZIV (the national health and disability insurance institute) scale, and limited to a certain amount (often 2.500 or 5.000 euro). This means a PO 24/24 policy can provide reimbursement of costs not covered by the hospitalisation cover, and is therefore complementary to the hospitalisation cover.
"Statutory system" or "with multipliers"?
Above, we mainly explain the "statutory system". This means that, as a self-employed person, you take out a policy "as if it were a statutory occupational accident insurance" for employees, only here you choose to do so voluntarily, and in this case you are insured around the clock, 24 hours a day. The covers then follow the statutory system with conversion coefficients.
Who is it for?
The target group is self-employed people, with or without a company, who want to protect themselves and their family against the sudden and unexpected nature of accidents, both in private life and professionally. Because a PO 24/24 policy requires no medical acceptance, a PO 24/24 policy is also taken out, though this fortunately occurs rarely, by people for whom favourable medical acceptance by an insurer proves impossible. These people then choose to enjoy solid accident cover through a PO 24/24 after all.
A deliberate choice for double cover
As an insurance broker, we caution our clients against taking out double cover. A PO 24/24 is then the proverbial exception to this rule: here we actually advise our clients to take out overlapping cover for accidents. Let us explain why. Most people insured under a PO 24/24 already have a classic disability cover that protects them and their family against incapacity for work due to illness or an accident. This means a deliberate choice is made for overlapping cover in the event of incapacity for work due to an accident. There are several reasons for this:
- An accident is sudden and unexpected. It is perfectly logical to provide extra cover for this risk
- A PO 24/24 is highly complementary to all other personal insurance, as we explain in detail above
- The annual premium for a PO 24/24 is rather modest
What is an accident?
An accident is defined as "a sudden and unexpected event external to the insured person". We typically think of road accidents, but certainly also the many accidents that happen at home and during leisure time. A serious illness, on the other hand, is not an accident, because it is not sudden and certainly not external. A heart attack, aortic rupture, or brain haemorrhage are sudden, but also not external. Please note: in certain PO 24/24 policies, muscle tears and muscle strains are regarded as accidents.
What determines the price of a PO 24/24?
The price depends on two factors.
- The higher the insured income, the more expensive
- The riskier your professional activity, the more expensive. An IT consultant or a medical specialist, for example, will pay a lower premium than a self-employed contractor or a self-employed haulier
- If you also have risky hobbies and want these covered, the price of the PO 24/24 policy will rise as well
What is the insured conventional income?
This is the income on which the guarantees and premiums of the PO 24/24 policy are calculated. Ideally, this income is your actual gross income at the moment you take out the contract. But it can also be set lower. Hence the name "conventional": we mutually agree to insure you in line with a certain income.
What is the taxation of the payout?
See above: the income you receive in the event of incapacity for work is taxable in personal income tax, depending on the type of policy you took out.
An example: disability cover versus PO 24/24
Does this fit your situation?
You will get an honest answer, even if that answer is "no".
Disclaimer: Life Experts provides insurance solutions for self-employed directors, liberal professions, SMEs and large companies. You will find the basic information for each type of solution on this website. With the product descriptions and the product overview on this website, we do not aim to follow a tax or legal classification, but a pragmatic and practical one. A turnover insurance, for instance, is fiscally a company-director insurance. And a death cover or a disability insurance can be taken out within the tax regimes of IPT, VAPZ, POZ, long-term saving, pension saving, and so on.