France: Attracting the self-employed with voluntary supplemental insurance

France: Attracting the self-employed with voluntary supplemental insuranceThe French law of 11 February 1994, known as the Madelin law, aims to allow non-salaried non-agricultural workers (TNSNA) to benefit from supplementary retirement pensions and additional personal pension guarantees consisting of contributions deductible from taxable profits. This device is not mandatory; it is a matter of voluntary contribution.

Tailor-made Social Security for the self-employed (TNS)
The self-employed encompass a broad spectrum of people. Among them you can find company managers, artisans, retailers, young entrepreneurs, freelancers… The one thing they have in common? Unlike 90% of the working population, they are not classed as employees and, as such, they have a less comprehensive social security package available to them. However, alternatives to supplementary cover are available, providing safeguards which are more specifically tailored to a wider variety of circumstances and needs.

Supplementary healthcare is also becoming more widespread amongst the self-employed (TNS)
As is the case for employees, the self-employed (TNS) are covered by basic healthcare insurance. And like employees, they are reimbursed in part for visits to the doctor, and practically left to fend for themselves when it comes to eye care or dental care. Although widespread supplementary healthcare now enables all employees to benefit from basic supplementary cover, the same does not apply to freelancers. Nevertheless, in accordance with the Loi Madelin, they do have the option to take out tax-efficient supplementary insurance; in as much as the latest proposals are better suited to their needs in terms of flexibility and simplicity. By way of example, Gerep’s selected proposals to offer 6 and 8 levels of guarantee respectively, as well as innovative services such as medical tele-consultation or various support services enabling them to protect their scarcest assets: time and peace of mind.

Life and disability cover: still some way away
If supplementary healthcare is gaining some ground with the self-employed, it is certainly far less so when it comes to life and disability cover as only 60% of non-salaried workers have taken out a contract. However, the imbalance between employees and others is even more marked for high risks covered by life and disability insurance: death, invalidity, disability… and the consequences of these are all the more serious. Having to stop work for a period of several months due to illness normally means the end of the line for a self-employed person and poses a serious threat to the survival of a small company. Hence the reason why insurance companies have come up with certain options such as the « key person » cover or dealing with fixed overhead company costs in cases where the director has to cease working.

In addition, certain insurance companies have focused on simplicity in order to attract the self-employed: immediate online enrolment, and a medical questionnaire scaled back to its simplest format with only some boxes to tick. However, in order that health and life/disability cover remains truly straightforward in the long-term, a reliance on receiving personalized advice as well as high quality and responsive management is essential. As for the abolition discussed by the RSI, if they do not call into question the pivotal role of supplementary insurance, then this could, however, result in having to take a hard look at certain regulatory changes.

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