Disability insurance (DI), also known as invalidity insurance (IV / AI), is part of Switzerland’s compulsory social insurance scheme, which also includes the first and second-pillar state pensions, as well as unemployment benefits.

Anyone who has been contributing to the scheme (as all residents of Switzerland are required to do, regardless of their nationality), is entitled to apply for DI if such a need arises.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that if you become ill, you will automatically receive a monthly payment.

To receive this pension, your capacity to work must have been reduced by an average of at least 40 percent for one year, and the disability must be irreversible.

First, however, rehabilitation measures

According to the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO), DI’s priority is ‘rehabilitation before a pension’, which means the system “aims to restore or improve the earning capacity of individuals who are disabled as the result of a congenital or other illness, or as the result of an accident.”

If you are able to perform a job, even part-time, which is compatible with your disability, then you will receive a partial DI.

If the rehabilitation measures are not possible or insufficient, and you are totally unable to work, you will qualify for total insurance payment.

How can you know whether you are eligible?

“It doesn’t matter whether the impairment to health is physical, psychological or mental in nature, or whether it results from a congenital infirmity, illness or accident,” the FSIO explains. The only condition is that “there is incapacity for earnings if the said disability is objectively insurmountable.”

‘Objectively insurmountable” means that you need to have medical certificates attesting to the nature of your illness, and how it prevents you from working and leading a normal life.

You may also have to be examined by doctors appointed by your local social insurance office to confirm the initial diagnosis and determine the extent of your disability.

How much will you receive (if you qualify)?

For persons in full-time employment, the social insurance office assesses the disability by means of an income comparison.

It first determines the income that the insured person could have earned if they were not disabled. It then deducts from this amount the salary that the insured person could reasonably earn after the disability occurred and the rehabilitation measures were carried out (regardless of whether this salary is achieved or not).

This calculation results in a difference that is equivalent to the loss of earnings (in percentage) due to the disability. 

This is an example cited by the FSIO :

Income without disability: 60,000 francs

Income with disability: 20,000 francs

Loss of earnings: 40,000 francs

Disability rate: 100 x 40,000 divided by 60,000 equals about 67 percent.

The pension will therefore correspond to 67 percent of salary.

An important point to remember is that if you are approved for a full DI, you absolutely cannot take on a ‘side’ job to supplement your income.

How can you apply for disability insurance as a foreigner?

Pretty much the same way as a Swiss citizen — again, provided you have been contributing to the social security scheme in Switzerland.

You will need to fill out an application form in German, French, or Italian (English version is not available) and send it to a DI office in your canton.

They will review your request and decide whether you are entitled to the pension and, if so, to what type.