If you can't work, what's actually left of your salary?
Less than most people assume — and the higher your salary, the bigger the gap. Here is what the state, your employer and your pension fund pay, in francs.
Nicole Bohne · Life insurance advisor · FINMA F01536402
The answer, up front
If you cannot work, Switzerland replaces part of your salary, not all of it. An accident is covered by your employer's UVG insurance at 80% of salary up to CHF 148,200 a year. Illness is weaker: a limited employer period, then a pension fund and IV benefit that see only a slice of a higher salary. Above those limits, the gap is yours to close.
Illness and accident are not the same case.
Switzerland protects income in layers, and each layer has its own trigger and ceiling. The layers do not add up to your salary. The illness case is the weak one, because the accident insurer that pays generously stays out of it.
| Layer | If you fall ill | If you have an accident | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer (Code of Obligations Art. 324a) | Salary for a limited period, scaled by years of service — or a collective daily-allowance policy if your employer has one | Same, but UVG pays first | Your contract states which |
| IV — state disability insurance | A pension only after an assessment, and only for lasting incapacity; at most CHF 2,520 a month for a full pension | Same rules | Federal, AHV/IV tables |
| UVG — compulsory accident insurance | Nothing. Illness is outside UVG | 80% of insured salary from day 3, up to CHF 148,200 a year | UVG Art. 16–17; UVV Art. 22 |
| BVG — your pension fund | A disability pension from the fund, on the salary it insures | Same, coordinated with UVG | Fund regulations and certificate |
Reading order for a review: employer period first, then daily allowance, then IV and BVG. The IV pension follows an assessment that takes time, so the months before it are the ones a household feels.
Where a higher salary falls out of the system.
Both the accident and the pension layers stop at a limit. Earn more than the limit and the extra is simply not insured by that layer. The 2026 figures:
- UVG, maximum insured salary
- CHF 148,200 a year for 2026 (UVV Art. 22), so the accident allowance tops out at 80% of that, CHF 118,560 a year. Salary above it is uninsured unless your employer holds a supplementary accident policy.
- BVG, statutory minimum
- Entry threshold CHF 22,680; coordination deduction CHF 26,460; salary counted up to CHF 90,720. The maximum coordinated salary is therefore CHF 64,260 (BVG Art. 2, 7, 8). Funds may insure more, and many do — that is the point of reading the certificate.
- IV/AHV, maximum pension
- CHF 2,520 a month (CHF 30,240 a year) for a full pension. Missing contribution years lower it, and expats who arrived as adults often have some.
Figures for 2026 as published in the Federal Council's ordinances and the AHV/IV tables; they are indexed and change. The UVG accident insurance guide covers the ceiling in more depth.
One salary of CHF 180,000, illustrative only.
This is an example person, not a client. The arithmetic uses only the limits above; what your own fund pays is on your certificate, and it can be higher.
- After an accident
- UVG insures CHF 148,200 of the CHF 180,000. At 80% that is CHF 118,560 a year — 66% of the salary. CHF 61,440 a year is missing, and CHF 31,800 of the salary sits above the ceiling.
- After an illness
- UVG pays nothing. The state IV pension is at most CHF 30,240 a year — 17% of the salary — and only after an assessment. The statutory BVG layer sees at most CHF 64,260 of the salary, roughly 36%. The disability pension the fund pays on that slice comes from its regulations, so it appears on the certificate, not on this page.
- What it means
- The higher the salary, the smaller the share the statutory layers replace. Whether your employer or fund closes the rest is the question a review answers.
Two terms that decide how a policy behaves.
Whatever covers your income, two points shape how it works in a bad year.
The waiting period is the time between falling ill and the first payment. Employer salary continuation and an employer's daily-allowance policy often cover the early months; IV pays only after an assessment. A private policy with a longer waiting period costs less but leaves you carrying more of the gap yourself, so its length has to match your savings and the employer's period.
The daily allowance is a percentage of salary — 80% under UVG for accidents — paid for a defined period. The percentage, the duration and the salary it applies to are the three things to compare in any contract, along with the definition of incapacity and any exclusions. UVG's 80% for accidents is a useful benchmark for what the same salary would get after illness.
Three reads before any policy is mentioned.
The order matters. Most conversations start with a product; the review starts with what you already have.
01 Certificate
The disability line on your certificate
Your Pensionskasse certificate states the disability pension in francs. Most people have never read that line. It is the largest single number in this decision, and it varies more between funds than any product does.
What we check
- The annual disability pension your fund promises
- Which salary the fund insures — the statutory slice or more
- Whether the fund pays a child supplement and waives your contributions
The gap is sometimes small. When it is, the answer is written down as no cover needed.
02 Employer
What your employer already carries
Many employers hold a collective daily-allowance policy for illness and a supplementary accident policy above the UVG ceiling. Your contract or offer letter usually says so, and often nobody has checked.
What we check
- Daily allowance for illness: percentage, waiting period, duration
- UVG-Zusatz for salary above CHF 148,200
- What happens to that cover if you leave
A private policy should fill what remains, not repeat what your employer already pays for.
03 Household
The household, not the product
The question is what your household needs each month if you cannot work, and for how long. We start from savings, a partner’s income, fixed costs and the mortgage, then compare that with the layers above.
What we check
- Fixed monthly costs and the mortgage
- A partner’s ability to carry the household
- Missing AHV contribution years, which lower the IV pension
Only then does a product question come up — its waiting period, its definition of incapacity, its exclusions.
Life insurance — do you actually need it?Income protection is one part of the picture.
If someone depends on your income after you die, the question is life insurance. If you are building savings, keep them separate and start with the 3rd pillar. If you are new to the country and want the whole list of what is mandatory and what is optional, start with the insurance checklist.
Nicole reads your certificate first.
Income protection sits with Nicole, next to life insurance and pension questions. The first review is free, in English, German or French.
Nicole Bohne
Life insurance advisor
Nine years insurer-side — seven at Basler Versicherung, two at Zurich Insurance — before moving to the advisory side. FINMA-registered (F01536402). Languages: German, English, French. Nicole reads your certificate before she talks about products.
Book with Nicole if
- Reading the disability line on your BVG certificate
- Checking what your employer already carries
- Sizing an income gap against the household
- Reading a policy an insurer already pitched you
If the review touches health insurance, Robert takes that part. Pension and 3rd-pillar questions stay with Nicole — same call.
FAQ.
Do I need income protection insurance in Switzerland?
What happens to my salary if I can't work in Switzerland?
Is disability insurance worth it for expats in Switzerland?
What is the difference between IV, UVG and BVG disability benefits?
Does UVG cover salary above CHF 148,200?
Do I need an insurance broker for income protection in Switzerland?
Find out what is actually left — before anyone sells you a policy.
The 45-minute review is free. Nicole reads your Pensionskasse certificate and your employment terms, tells you what an illness would leave your household, and says so plainly if the answer is that you need nothing more.
Book your first Swiss insurance review