Incapacity for work and Disability insurance (including pregnancy)

What if you fall ill, have an accident or need to take maternity leave? You can count on the Overseas Social Security: if you lose your income, we pay you a benefit. We also reimburse your medical costs.

Please note: this insurance policy does not apply to workplace accidents.

When do you receive benefits payments?

You will receive benefits for the period in which you are unable to work, i.e. in principle from the moment you stop working until the moment you start working again. However, you must submit your application within 90 days from the start of your incapacity for work. Otherwise, you will only receive your benefits from the date of the application.

Did you become incapacitated for work during your affiliation with the Overseas Social Security and did your incapacity for work extend beyond your affiliation? You can submit your application for benefits up to three years after your last payment of contributions.

Accidents: exceptions

There are several exceptions as regards accidents. You do not receive any benefits for:

• a workplace accident,
• an accident caused by deliberate error,
• an accident during a paid sporting activity, or
• an accident due to active participation in a war or civil war.

Other advantages

You benefit from additional protection if you are recognized as disabled or incapacitated for work by our institution. In such cases, the Overseas Social Security offers you:

• Protection of your pension. If you have been ill or disabled before your 65th birthday and have paid contributions for less than 20 years, you will not lose your pension for this period.
• Residual right to reimbursement of costs for medical care. As long as you remain incapacitated for work, we will reimburse these costs. for you and your entire family, in accordance with NIHDI scales. You do not have to pay a contribution in this regard.

Maternity leave

Like Belgian social security, the Overseas Social Security offers you 15 weeks of maternity leave. You will receive a benefit payment from your insurance policy for the time you do not work. Your maternity leave consists of prenatal leave and postnatal leave.

The prenatal leave begins at the earliest 7 weeks before the expected delivery date. If you give birth later than expected, the prenatal leave will be extended until your delivery.

The postnatal leave consists of 8 weeks after the child is born. If you have taken less than 7 weeks of prenatal leave, you can extend your postnatal leave by the days you have not taken.

How do you apply for it?

You have to apply for you maternity leave yourself. Provide us with the certificate from your doctor in this regard.

When your child is born, provide us with an excerpt from the birth register.

What is not included?

The Overseas Social Security does not offer the following:

• birth allowance, maternity benefits,
• paternity leave, parental leave, or
• breastfeeding leave.

Conditions

In order to receive benefits for incapacity for work, you must:

• at the time of your incapacity for work, have already paid your social security contributions for 6 months, except in the event of an accident, and
• for nationals of countries outside the EEA or Switzerland: reside within the European Union (with the exception of Denmark).

Calculation of the benefit payment

The amount depends on:

• your contributions (If you have paid contributions for at least 36 months, the Overseas Social Security takes the total of your contributions into account),
• the duration of your incapacity for work (after one year the benefit payment will be increased by 50%),
• the composition of your family (if you have dependent family members, recognised as such by the Overseas Social Security, the benefit payment will be increased),
• whether or not you require assistance from third parties, and
• any professional income or income from social security (health insurance benefit payment, unemployment benefit, pension, etc.)

Example amounts according to the index