The independent professional’s annual protection audit: seven questions that matter
Keep earnings, obligations and policies aligned as the business changes.
Did your actual activity change?
Start with what you now do, not the description used when the policy was signed. New services, manual work, foreign customers, subcontracting or handling sensitive data may change risk. Compare actual work with insured activity and status recognition. The official self-employed guidance provides the starting framework, but the contracts must reflect today’s operation. A yearly review is useful only if it reveals changes rather than simply renewing last year’s paperwork.
Are earnings and fixed costs current?
Update accounts, personal drawings and fixed commitments. Turnover, profit and insured earnings are not interchangeable. Ask how each insurer uses the declared figure and when changes must be notified. Compare household essentials with business overhead. Reserve known tax and contribution bills before counting cash as available protection. Use the compensation office’s current assessment for social contributions instead of assuming last year’s provisional invoices represent the final ongoing cost.
Could you finance the waiting periods?
Recalculate the cash required before sickness or accident benefits begin. Check whether the reserve is accessible and already committed elsewhere. Read benefit duration, partial incapacity and claim evidence. Map longer-term disability separately. A policy amount may look adequate while the first months remain unfunded. Compare any premium saving from a longer delay with the actual capacity to retain that risk under a bad, but plausible, year.
Hypothetical growing practice
A professional’s personal need rises from CHF 3,500 to CHF 4,200 monthly after a family change, while business fixed costs rise from CHF 800 to CHF 1,600 after renting an office. The total illustrative exposure grows from CHF 4,300 to CHF 5,800. This does not automatically imply the same increase in admissible insured salary. It signals a need to review income protection, reserves and business-cost arrangements using the actual contract definitions.
Does retirement still fit the budget?
Review pension membership, pillar 3a eligibility and the contribution pattern. Check whether rigid commitments remain affordable during seasonal lows and whether protection is included or separate. Revisit beneficiaries after family changes. Compare net costs and early-exit terms before switching. A larger projected capital is not necessarily better if it requires sacrificing essential liquidity or using assumptions that the household cannot sustain when income falls.
Who keeps the business running?
Document delegated access, customer communication, bill payment and critical supplier contacts. Review property, liability, legal and cyber risks separately; none should be presumed covered by personal income insurance. Hiring a first employee adds obligations that require specific checks. Keep policy dates and notification procedures accessible. A continuity plan reduces operational disruption while insurance handles accepted financial risks; the two tools should reinforce each other rather than compete for attention.
Turn the audit into dated actions
End with a short list: update earnings, obtain an endorsement, adjust the reserve, verify pension eligibility or arrange a specialist review. Assign each action a date and keep confirmations. Clearwise can coordinate the audit using current accounts and policy schedules. The purpose is not constant switching; it is ensuring that protection follows a changing business and that remaining risks are consciously retained, financed and understood by the people who depend on your work.
Sources and further reading
Original Clearwise analysis. External reporting provides context; rules and contract terms must be verified with the competent authority or provider. Some press articles may require a subscription.
- Reference FSIO: self-employed social insurance ↗
- Reference OASI/DI/IC contribution leaflet ↗
- Reference Swiss SME portal: self-employment guidance ↗
Apply this to your situation
Compare your actual documents and clarify what matters before making a commitment.
Request a free consultationGeneral guidance, not a binding quote or personalised legal, tax or investment advice. Examples are hypothetical and results are not guaranteed.
