Business insurance, without the confusion

Accident insurance (LAA)

Occupational accidents and diseases for every employee; non-occupational accidents too from 8 hours a week with the same employer. With Suva if your sector falls under it, otherwise with a private insurer. The occupational premium is at your expense; the non-occupational premium is the employee's, which you advance and withhold from their salary.

The trap, The self-employed person is covered by nobody. A fall from scaffolding, a commuting accident: at their expense, unless they take out insurance themselves. It is the most frequent and the most serious gap.

Occupational pension (LPP)

As soon as an employee reaches the threshold, you affiliate them to a pension fund before their first salary. Contributions are shared, at least in equal parts.

The trap, The self-employed person is not subject to it. Nothing builds up for their retirement beyond AVS, except what they decide, and ten years without a 2nd pillar cannot be caught up.

Daily sickness allowance

A sick employee is entitled to their salary for a period that grows with seniority, three weeks in the first year, one month in the second, up to six months after twenty years. The insurance takes over, generally from the 31st day, if its cover is at least equivalent to the law.

The trap, For the self-employed, it is the only thing that still pays when they are not working. Without it, a month off is a month without income.

Professional liability

Damage caused to others in the course of the trade: water damage at a client's, a tool that falls, advice that proves costly. Mandatory only in certain regulated professions, but a contractor, a landlord or a principal almost always requires it before signing.

The trap, It is sized on the actual activity. A policy taken out for interior painting does not necessarily cover a facade job with scaffolding.

Property insurance

Fire, water damage, theft, machinery breakdown: your equipment, your stock, your fittings. Often required by the lease for commercial premises.

The trap, Under-insurance: a value declared at installation, never reassessed, and a payout reduced pro rata on the day of the claim.

Business legal protection

Lawyer and court costs in a dispute with a client who does not pay, an employee contesting a dismissal, a defaulting supplier.

The trap, Waiting periods and exclusions. A dispute that arose before the policy was taken out is never covered.

Where to start

In this order: LAA on the day of the first employment contract, LPP as soon as a salary reaches the threshold, then professional liability before the first job at a client's. The rest is decided on your actual situation, payroll, trade, equipment, and that is where an adviser is concretely useful: premiums are not read in a law, they are negotiated.