Sick benefits for self-employed: what NAV covers

As a self-employed person, you receive zero kroner in sick benefits from NAV for the first 16 days you are sick. From day 17, NAV covers 80 percent of your sick benefit base – you must insure the remaining risk yourself.

How much sick benefit do you receive as self-employed?

Sick benefits for self-employed work differently than for regular employees. For the first 16 calendar days you are unable to work, you receive nothing from NAV (the Labour and Welfare Service). This is called a waiting period.

Starting on day 17, NAV pays 80 percent of your sick benefit base. This follows from the National Insurance Act § 8-34. The sick benefit base is typically the average of your taxable income from your business.

Freelancers have a slightly better arrangement: they automatically receive 100 percent of their sick benefit base from day 17, without having to purchase separate insurance for that period, provided they regularly have income from assignments (National Insurance Act § 8-38). Employees, on the other hand, receive sick benefits from the first day of absence – see sick benefits and self-certification for employees for the complete overview.

These rules about working life and social security rights apply to everyone who works in Norway. On SamfunnPrep's page about work immigration, you will find more guides about your rights as an employee or self-employed person.

What happens if you become sick again right after you recover?

If you become unable to work again within 16 calendar days after NAV last paid you sick benefits, you do not have to wait 16 new days. You receive sick benefits from the first day of the new sick leave period.

This rule protects you against losing income every time an illness flares up shortly after the previous episode. It also applies if you have purchased additional insurance.

How do you insure yourself against the first 16 days?

You can purchase voluntary insurance from NAV that covers your loss of income during the waiting period – or even more. The insurance can be purchased by self-employed persons and freelancers who are members of the Norwegian National Insurance scheme. There are three levels for self-employed persons, with rates effective from 1 January 2026 according to NAV's circular (V4-08-00):

Note: nav.no still showed the old rates (3.1%, 1.4% and 7.5%) when this article was updated on 25 July 2026. The rates above are from NAV's own circular (V4-08-00), which is the legally applicable source. Call NAV if you are quoted a different figure.

The premium base is usually calculated based on your average business income over the last three finalized tax years. The premium is tax-deductible.

What does additional insurance cost for freelancers?

Freelancers can insure themselves against the first 16 days and receive 100 percent of their sick benefit base from day 1. The premium is 4.5 percent of the premium base, also effective from 1 January 2026 according to the same circular. Since freelancers already automatically receive 100 percent from day 17, they do not need to insure the later period.

What is the upper limit for the sick benefit base?

Sick benefits and premiums are calculated up to a maximum of 6 times the base amount (6G), which is 819 294 kroner. The base amount (G) is 136 549 kroner as of 1 May 2026. If you earn more than this from your business, income above the limit is not covered – neither by NAV nor by insurance.

The hidden trap: 16 days determines whether you avoid four weeks of waiting period

New insurance normally only takes effect four weeks after NAV receives your application. If you become sick before that, you receive no payment as an insured person.

There is one important exception: if you apply for insurance within 16 calendar days after your last period of sick benefit coverage – as an employee, as a recipient of unemployment benefits, or as an insured freelancer – you avoid the waiting period entirely. Insurance then applies from day 1.

This is the trap many people fall into: you resign from your job, start a sole proprietorship (ENK), and wait too long to apply for insurance. If you wait more than 16 days, you must go through four new weeks without coverage if you become sick in the meantime. If you have just registered a sole proprietorship, the insurance application should be among the first things you submit.

New business? This is what you must document

If you have run a business for less than three years, NAV does not have finalized figures to use in the premium base. In that case, you must attach documentation of expected income to your application – for example, a profit and loss statement or a budget.

Without this documentation, your application may be delayed. Check with NAV what is accepted before you submit it.

How do you apply for insurance?

You apply digitally on nav.no, under My NAV. The application asks for information about your business and expected income.

If you have run the business for three years or more, NAV usually retrieves the income figures automatically from your tax settlement. If the business is younger, you must attach the documentation mentioned above.

NAV processes the application and sends you a written response about when the insurance takes effect – either after a four-week waiting period, or from day 1 if you apply within the 16-day rule mentioned above.

Practical matters about the insurance year

The insurance year follows the calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December. NAV sends invoices twice a year, and the entire amount must be paid in advance – there is no payment plan. New insurance can only start from the next term, that is 1 January or 1 July, after a previous insurance has ended. You cannot cancel insurance while you are on sick leave, and unpaid premiums can be deducted from a later sick benefit payment.

Self-employed persons should also check workplace injury insurance – another insurance you often have to purchase separately, since workplace injuries are not covered automatically the way they are for employees.

Sole proprietorship or freelancer?

Whether you operate as a sole proprietorship (ENK) or as a freelancer affects both taxes and sick benefit rights. SamfunnPrep has a separate comparison of freelancer and ENK that goes through taxes, VAT and other differences between the forms. If you need a general overview of NAV benefits, you will find it in NAV for immigrants in Norway.

Many of these rules about rights and social security are also curriculum for the citizenship exam – practice for free on SamfunnPrep.