Income insurers contribute to the administration of social security. They offer insurance to cover the income risk due to illness and disability. At the same time, they strive for the lowest possible number of workers who drop out, and for sick and disabled people to be able to return to (suitable) work through effective reintegration.
In addition to effective reintegration, more and more attention is being paid to the vitality of workers throughout their careers. Prevention is an important theme for insurers. The Dutch Association of Insurers also sees the social importance of vitality and contributes to an activating social security. You can read how we do this on this theme page.
Here you will find information about the role of income insurers in health, illness, disability, reintegration and prevention. Are you looking for information about pension and income? Then go to verzekeraars.nl/pensioenen.
Income insurers are committed to keeping workers in work (prevention) and getting them to work who have temporarily or partially dropped out due to illness or incapacity for work (reintegration).
For example, insurers provide income protection for workers by reducing financial risks. The focus is entirely on recovery and return to (suitable) work. Insurers facilitate this in collaboration with occupational health and safety services and reintegration agencies.
In addition, there is an increasing emphasis on preventing outages through effective prevention measures. In this way, income insurers help to keep workers healthy at work and contribute to a sustainable continuation of business.
Income insurers support employers who have to deal with (long-term) sick or incapacitated employees. Income insurers offer absenteeism insurance in the context of continued payment of wages in the event of illness. In addition, they offer employers the option of privately insuring the Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA). And finally, insurers offer a variety of options for covering risks in this area.
At the end of 2018, employers, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the Association concluded a covenant for the development of absenteeism insurance. This SME unburdening insurance is an absenteeism insurance for employers who want to outsource complete control of employee absenteeism. All necessary services are included, a case manager is in charge and supports parties in the execution of their responsibilities. Agreements have also been made about the way in which absenteeism insurers take the employer's own absenteeism into account in the premium.
If an employee calls in sick, the employer will continue to pay at least seventy percent of the salary for 104 weeks. In this case, absenteeism insurers, in collaboration with occupational health and safety services and with professionals such as case managers, the company doctor and occupational health experts, play an important role in supporting employers and employees.
If an employee does not fully recover during this period, it is possible to apply for disability benefits after two years. An employer can choose to transfer this risk to a private insurer. Insurers are also active in the implementation of this scheme. They offer services that help employees stay in work and guide them back to work.
If an employee is unable to work due to illness, he or she has an important responsibility in the process of recovery and reintegration. It is important that employees have more control over this process than is currently the case. In this way, they can return to their own or other suitable work in good health and quickly. To achieve this, research is being carried out into promoting self-management and improving the services provided to sick employees. To this end, we work together with the trade association of occupational health and safety services (OVAL) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG).
Getting sick can happen to anyone. But if you are sick for a longer period of time or become incapacitated for work, this can have a significant impact on your income. The Income in the event of illness and disability tool (also known as the WIA tool) provides a handy overview of financial risks in the event of long-term illness and/or incapacity for work. A great tool for case managers to have a conversation about the financial impact of long-term illness and/or disability.
Privacy of sick employees is important. That is why, together with the trade association of occupational health and safety services (OVAL), we have drawn up the Privacy Income Insurance Manual (July 2020). The manual states which information parties are allowed to share with each other in the assessment of claims, absenteeism counselling and the reintegration of sick employees. It helps insurers to implement the GDPR and the Code of Conduct for the Processing of Personal Data by Insurers.
Self-employed people are responsible for their own income if they become incapacitated for work. They decide for themselves whether and how to insure themselves against the risk of incapacity for work. Income insurers have developed, among other things, individual disability insurance (AOV) for this target group. The AOV offers self-employed people income protection in the event of illness and incapacity for work, and services in the field of prevention and reintegration.
An AOV is a tailor-made insurance. Self-employed people have the option of tailoring the insurance coverage to their personal (financial) circumstances and preferences. The amount of the premium depends on these personal preferences, and the chance that the self-employed person will become ill or incapacitated for work and is therefore entitled to benefits. Because the risk of incapacity for work is not the same for everyone, the premium may differ between the self-employed. And if the risk is too high, the self-employed person may not be accepted for the insurance.
The central government wants to encourage the self-employed to take out insurance, so that everyone has a minimum safety net, and the costs and risks of the uninsured do not fall on society. That is why a statutory insurance obligation for the self-employed was announced in 2019. Work is currently underway on the further design of this compulsory disability insurance.
Insurers want to determine as accurately and objectively as possible which factors influence the risk of incapacity for work. This is important because these factors play a role in disability insurance (AOV). On the one hand, in making acceptance decisions and carrying out claim assessments, but also in setting up effective services for prevention and reintegration. The availability of evidence-based data is of great importance to insurers and their customers. The Association is therefore investing in a scientific project with the aim of further increasing the scientific basis of available data. Among other things, for the acceptance process and the claim assessment for AOVs.
In this project, the Association collaborates with the Dutch Association of Medical Advisors in Private Insurance Matters (GAV) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG).
On vanatotzekerheid.nl, consumers can find general information about insurance. The website is built from life events such as buying a house, death and retirement in relation to insurance. There is also information about illness and disability, the Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act for employees and various insurances, including disability insurance for the self-employed.