21.03.2025

Insurance against Professional Invalidity: Protect Your Income

Insurance against professional invalidity (BU) serves as your financial safety net in times of uncertainty. Imagine your career as a carefully constructed house of cards, and an unexpected event threatens to make it collapse. The BU is the invisible structure that protects you from the fall. In this article, we highlight the importance of BU for your financial security and provide valuable advice for proper selection and contracting. Our two chapters will guide you through the main aspects to ensure your financial future.

The Role of Insurance against Professional Invalidity for Financial Stability

A worker with a protective umbrella symbolizing financial security.

Insurance against professional invalidity (BU) is an indispensable pillar for financial security, especially for those who directly depend on their income. This insurance kicks in when someone can no longer perform their profession for a long period due to an accident or illness. It ensures that financial stability is maintained despite a potential dramatic change in living conditions.

The central function of BU insurance is to provide a monthly pension. This is granted as soon as a medical certificate shows that a person is unable to perform their profession at least 50% due to health limitations. This makes it evident that timely protection through BU insurance is essential to maintaining the usual standard of living even in times of crisis. While the statutory pension for reduced earning capacity often provides only minimal support, BU fills an essential gap in coverage.

The need for this insurance becomes even clearer in light of the statistic that one in four employees will become invalid during their working life. Mental illnesses and physical disorders often play a significant role. Therefore, it is important to address this insurance as early as possible. Signing a contract in advance can be advantageous, as insurance premiums for young people are often lower due to lower health risks.

An essential advantage of insurance against professional invalidity is its flexibility. It can be tailored to individual life circumstances, whether through the ability to adjust the amount of the pension or the contractual conditions based on a change in personal situation. This not only offers security but also adaptability – a fundamental factor in our dynamic world.

BU covers not only physically demanding professions, such as those of artisans. Office employees, who are at risk due to stress or sedentary lifestyles, as well as self-employed individuals and freelancers who lack state coverage, also benefit from this protection. Even for students and apprentices, insurance against professional invalidity is useful, as they usually do not have a right to state pensions.

In general, insurance against professional invalidity is a suitable strategy to ensure individual income and, consequently, the standard of living. Through careful selection and appropriate modification of the insurance, one can ensure they are adequately protected even in challenging times.

Individual Protection: Choosing the Right Insurance against Professional Invalidity

A worker with a protective umbrella symbolizing financial security.

When choosing insurance against professional invalidity (BU), crucial questions arise: how do I ensure that the protection meets my financial needs? A clear understanding of the selection criteria is fundamental. Firstly, the pension payment should cover about 75% of the previous net income to ensure important income balance. This is particularly essential for singles, as they typically lack additional sources of income. Additionally, the duration of payment is decisive: it should last until retirement age to avoid gaps in support.

Careful planning is also based on a dynamic structuring of premiums. An annual increase in premiums of 3 to 5% can compensate for inflation and salary increases, ensuring that the payment amount in case of a claim remains realistic. The evaluation of health and risk is significant in this process. Pre-existing illnesses and lifestyle factors significantly influence premium costs.

The contract structure highlights the true flexibility of your BU protection. Individual product variations, such as the combination with investment options or attractive starting rates for young people, offer customized solutions. Integrating a work incapacity clause in the contract can also ensure faster payment if prolonged incapacity is foreseeable. For instance, the insurance pays after only four months of work incapacity, provided that further incapacity of at least two months is anticipated.

Another essential feature is the reinsurance guarantee. It allows for an increase in the insurance amount in case of significant life events such as marriage or birth, without a new health assessment. However, it is important to pay attention to possible waiting periods. Likewise, it is crucial to avoid abstract deferral, which allows the insurer to refer to other jobs, potentially complicating the recognition of professional invalidity.

Furthermore, corporate solutions offer advantages, such as fewer health questions, but are often limited in terms of amount and less favorable from a tax and legal perspective. For an informed decision, it is always advisable to refer to professional consultations, supplemented by online tools such as premium calculators for determining rates and anonymous risk inquiries to verify insurability without negative repercussions for databases.

Frequently asked questions

The primary function of BU insurance is to serve as a financial safety net by providing a monthly pension when someone can no longer perform their profession due to an accident or long-term illness. This insurance is essential to maintaining one’s standard of living even in crises.

BU insurance is not only for those in physically demanding professions. It’s also recommended for office employees, self-employed individuals, and freelancers who lack state coverage, and even for students and apprentices who typically do not have a right to state pensions.

The pension payment should cover about 75% of the previous net income to ensure important income balance. This is especially crucial for singles, who typically lack additional sources of income.

A reinsurance guarantee allows for an increase in the insurance amount in case of significant life events such as marriage or birth, without a new health assessment. However, potential waiting periods should be taken into account.

Yes, in addition to professional consultations, online tools such as premium calculators for determining rates and risk inquiries can verify insurability without negative repercussions for databases. These can provide helpful insights into insurance cost and terms.