Support for self-employed persons for compulsory insurance is falling

Two years ago, 41 percent of the respondents in a similar survey by Knab indicated that they were in favor of a mandatory AOV. Now only 36 percent support making it mandatory. In a government plan, which is expected to come into effect in 2027, self-employed persons who have not arranged anything are obliged to take out an AOV at a premium of approximately 8 percent of their income. A possible benefit – which will be around the minimum wage – only starts after a waiting period of probably one year.

Knab believes that the proposed one-year waiting period is particularly disturbing for many entrepreneurs. If the government were to shorten that waiting period, support from self-employed persons would increase to 57 percent.

The survey shows that many self-employed persons have not arranged anything. For example, 42 percent say they have no financial safety net for disability. Of that group, four out of ten self-employed persons would not be able to keep their heads above water for more than a year without entrepreneurial income.

Of the 1500 respondents, 22 percent say they have an AOV, 9 percent are affiliated with a bread fund and 4 percent have insurance through crowdsurance. 20 percent of the self-employed say they have sufficient equity to absorb the consequences of incapacity for work.

Knab director Nadine Klokke sees the large number of uninsured self-employed persons as a social problem that needs to be solved. The bank therefore also supports the idea of ​​an obligation, but with the important condition that both the premium and the waiting time are reduced. “To achieve both, our advice is: make the AOV compulsory for all workers, not just for the self-employed. And at the same time ensure that the number of bogus self-employed people is reduced. In this way, the big companies contribute a fairer share to the social system.”

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