What does Korean voluntary business-owner accident insurance cover?
A person running a shop alone may face both treatment costs and lost income after an injury.
Employee accident-insurance membership does not automatically establish the owner’s personal coverage.
This calculator compares voluntary coverage under Korea’s small and medium business-owner scheme, using the 12 official remuneration grades and an industry rate you supply.
Use the results to compare affordable premiums with the income-replacement basis after an approved work injury.
All amounts are KRW and use Korean 2026 rules; the calculator does not submit an application, approve coverage or determine whether an accident is work-related.
A future insured-event scenario must be kept separate from an accident that already happened while uninsured.
Prepare three decisions
- Confirm whether business-owner or labor-provider coverage applies.
- Compare monthly and annual premiums across remuneration grades 1–12 at your verified rate.
- Check the cash reserve needed for an income gap even after coverage and payment assumptions are satisfied.
Owners without employees and the below-300 threshold
Article 124 of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act allows qualifying owners to apply for COMWEL approval for themselves or their survivors.
Decree Article 122 includes an insured employer with fewer than 300 employees and a person without employees, while excluding labor providers from the latter category.
A business registration or occupation name alone is insufficient to settle the applicable category.
Zero employees
Check the contract and actual work relationship.
Delivery, freight or construction work can involve different coverage categories.
Select scheme unconfirmed to hold the personal comparison until the category is reviewed.
New versus continuing coverage
A new employer application with 300 or more employees is outside this comparison.
An already insured owner who later reaches 300 employees may retain coverage under the continuation provision, subject to checking the owner’s intention and continuing insurance relationship.
Unpaid spouses and relatives within the fourth degree need separate application and eligibility review.
Amounts here apply to one owner; do not multiply them to certify a family’s coverage.
For specified work involving dust, vibration, lead or organic solvents, confirm the examination and approval requirements at application.
The official 2026 remuneration grades
MOEL Notice 2025-86 defines the monthly remuneration base and daily average wage for January 1 through December 31, 2026.
Premiums use the monthly base; monetary benefits use the separately published daily wage.
Do not divide the monthly base by 30 to reconstruct the daily benefit wage.
Official Korean 2026 business-owner remuneration grades, monthly bases and daily average wages in KRW| Remuneration grade | Monthly base (KRW) | Daily wage (KRW) |
|---|
| Grade 1 | 2,511,200 | 82,560 |
| Grade 2 | 3,024,800 | 99,450 |
| Grade 3 | 3,538,390 | 116,330 |
| Grade 4 | 4,051,990 | 133,220 |
| Grade 5 | 4,565,590 | 150,100 |
| Grade 6 | 5,079,180 | 166,990 |
| Grade 7 | 5,592,780 | 183,870 |
| Grade 8 | 6,106,380 | 200,760 |
| Grade 9 | 6,619,970 | 217,640 |
| Grade 10 | 7,133,570 | 234,530 |
| Grade 11 | 7,647,170 | 251,410 |
| Grade 12 | 8,160,761 | 268,299 |
The grade changes the premium base and the wage used for monetary benefits, but does not mean all medical treatment costs rise proportionally with it.
Compare annual premiums and daily absence benefits, then review disability in its separate card.
The notices expire on 2026-12-31; use new official values for 2027.
Input meanings and important distinctions
Industry and commuting rates
Enter the actual rate from a notice or COMWEL guidance.
The initial 1% is an example, rather than an industry average or your statutory rate.
Convert 10‰ to 1%, and check whether the commuting component is already included.
Absence days and attained age
Use recognized days when treatment prevented you from working, rather than ordinary days off.
The scenario assumes the same attained age throughout the period.
Split periods crossing a birthday, the deferral expiry, the remuneration grade or the rule year.
Two different grades
Remuneration grade selects the premium and wage basis; disability grade describes the assessed residual disability after healing.
Selecting remuneration grade 3 does not imply disability grade 3.
Disability is an assumed scenario until COMWEL determines it.
Coverage and payment status
Separate future approved coverage with paid premiums from an already uninsured accident.
Unconfirmed coverage or payments hold the benefit amount while you check the records.
A subsidy refund is separate from the obligation to pay premiums.
Premium and absence-benefit formulas
Monthly and annual premiums
Raw monthly premium = official monthly remuneration × effective rate ÷ 100.
Raw annual premium = raw monthly premium × 12.
Notice 2025-91 sets the 2026 commute rate at 0.6‰, or 0.06%.
Only the separate-addition option adds 0.06 percentage points; already-included or confirmed-exempt options add nothing.
Unconfirmed commute treatment holds total premiums and premium-equivalent days.
The 70% amount and low-income adjustment
Article 52 basic daily benefit = official daily average wage × 70%.
Article 54 applies when that amount is at or below 80% of the minimum compensation basis.
Under Notice 2025-84, the minimum is KRW 82,560, and 80% is KRW 66,048.
Grade 1 has a 90% amount above the cap, so the Article-54(1) proviso gives KRW 66,048 before age reduction; grade 2 uses the ordinary KRW 69,615.
Paragraph 2 gives a minimum-wage adjustment only to the main-clause branch, and must not override the capped proviso with KRW 82,560.
Short absences and age 61 or older
Article 52 does not pay for a period of three days or fewer.
For four or more days, multiply the adjusted daily amount by all entered recognized days; do not automatically subtract three days.
At age 61 or older, Article 55 and Annex 1 require the age reduction or a verified statutory deferral.
If that treatment is unconfirmed, absence-benefit amounts are held.
For the ordinary 70% branch, ages 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65+ use 66%, 62%, 58%, 54% and 50% of the wage.
The low-income minimum-wage branch multiplies its adjusted amount by 86/90, 82/90, 78/90, 74/90 and 70/90 respectively.
The grade-1 capped branch uses the minimum compensation basis × 80% × these factors under Annex 1 paragraph 3, which also provides a comparison floor in the ordinary branch.
The qualifying Article-55 deferral runs for two years from the start of treatment under Decree Article 51; confirm the facts rather than inferring it from age alone.
How to use the calculator
- Confirm the owner versus labor-provider scheme, employee count and new/existing coverage. For an employer with employees, confirm workplace insurance too.
- Enter the documented industry and rate. Check whether the 0.06% commute rate is included, added separately or exempt, and mark the rate confirmed only after review.
- Select an affordable remuneration grade and compare the other 11 rows. The selected row has a ★ and uses the same rate as every alternative.
- Enter absence days, attained age and a disability scenario. Keep the older-person deferral unconfirmed until it is verified.
- Separate future coverage assumptions from actual current coverage and arrears. Save pending questions with the comparison, then personally verify your application receipt.
Numeric inputs support clearing, retyping and comma formatting.
Check percent versus per-mille units before entering a rate.
When commuting treatment is unconfirmed, you can still review remuneration and conditional benefits while holding total premiums and equivalent days.
Three worked examples
Remuneration grade 3, total rate 1%, age 55, 30 days
KRW 3,538,390 × 1% = raw monthly KRW 35,383.9; the raw annual amount is KRW 424,606.8.
Display values are KRW 35,384 monthly and KRW 424,607 annually; the latter is not calculated from the rounded monthly display.
The official daily wage of KRW 116,330 × 70% gives KRW 81,431; 30 days gives KRW 2,442,930.
The annual-premium equivalent is six days, conditional on an insured and approved event.
Remuneration grade 1 at age 55
The basic 70% of KRW 82,560 is KRW 57,792, but this is not the final adjusted amount.
The 90% amount of KRW 74,304 exceeds the KRW 66,048 cap, triggering the Article-54(1) proviso.
The hourly minimum wage of KRW 10,320 × eight hours is KRW 82,560, but paragraph 2 does not override this capped branch; 30 days gives KRW 1,981,440 before age reduction.
Three days gives zero, while four days gives KRW 264,192.
A positive annual premium uses at least four premium-equivalent days, respecting the payment threshold.
Age-61 and age-65 reductions and floors
Grade 3 at age 61 gives daily KRW 76,777.8 with reduction, or KRW 81,431 if the statutory deferral is confirmed.
Grade 1 at age 61 gives 66,048 × 86/90 = KRW 63,112.533…; 30 days gives KRW 1,893,376 without intermediate rounding.
Grade 2 at age 65 uses the Annex-1 floor of KRW 51,370.666…, exceeding the simple 50% amount of KRW 49,725.
Unconfirmed deferral or reduction stays pending.
Disability pension and lump sum are separate alternatives
Article 57 and Annex 2 define compensation days by the disability remaining after healing.
For the ordinary domestic case, grades 1–3 use a pension, grades 4–7 allow pension OR lump sum, and grades 8–14 use a lump sum.
Do not create a lifetime pension total from a guessed duration or add the pension and lump sum together.
Remuneration grade 3; disability grade 14
KRW 116,330 × 55 days = lump sum KRW 6,398,150.
This scenario has no disability pension.
COMWEL must determine the disability grade, healing date and applicable wage.
Remuneration grade 3; disability grade 7
The 138-day pension is KRW 16,053,540 per year; the 616-day lump sum is KRW 71,659,280.
These are alternatives, rather than a combined benefit.
Disability grade 1 uses 329 days, giving an annual pension of KRW 38,272,570.
The foreign-resident nonnational lump-sum exception, worsened pre-existing disability, pension advances and interest deductions are outside the model.
Medical treatment, nursing, survivor benefits and funeral expenses have separate conditions and are excluded.
Distinguish your coverage-grade decision from a later benefit-method decision based on an actual disability determination.
Coverage dates, grade changes and unpaid premiums
Application and coverage approval
Being in an eligible category does not replace filing, approval and an applicable insurance relationship.
Compare the accident date with the coverage date in the approval record.
A future enrollment comparison does not retroactively cover an already uninsured accident, and each family worker needs a separate application check.
Annual grade reporting
Premium-collection Rule Article 44 requires choosing a grade on application and reporting the year’s grade by the end of January.
Without a new report, the previous grade is treated as selected.
A changed grade applies from the day after reporting; mid-month commencement, termination or grade changes can require prorating.
This calculator compares complete months.
The arrears exception
Decree Article 124 restricts benefits for an accident during premium arrears.
The exception concerns arrears paid by the 10th of the second month after the month containing the due date.
For example, a January due date points to March 10, rather than two months after the accident.
Review the actual premiums paid, accident date and COMWEL decision before selecting exception confirmed.
Practical scenarios and records to prepare
- A shop operated alone: compare grades and the notice rate rather than sales. Separately list rent, living costs and loan repayments during closure; do not assume the conditional absence benefit pays every cost.
- Starting delivery or freight work: settle the owner versus labor-provider category first, using contracts and existing insurance records. Do not infer a commuting exemption from the occupation name.
- An owner in their sixties changing grade: check reduction, two-year deferral and the actual grade-change date together. Split a period that crosses a birthday or deferral expiry.
- An owner with unpaid premiums: payment records, accident dates and the exception deadline come before comparing a larger hypothetical benefit. Take the saved pending items into your COMWEL consultation.
Prepare the business arrangement and contracts, workplace insurance record, actual rate notice, grade reports and payment history.
For a claim, also prepare the accident date, treatment and unable-to-work periods, work-injury approval and disability determination.
Check each person’s insurance relationship separately when family workers or other social-insurance schemes are involved.
Interpretation limits and useful checks
Premium-equivalent days compare an annual premium with conditional income replacement after an approved insured event; they are not a probability-weighted enrollment return.
Premiums remain an expense in an accident-free year.
Review liquidity and risk protection alongside the amounts, without treating the calculator as an automatic enrollment recommendation.
- Calculations retain raw values and round only for display. Actual billing and benefit-payment rounding follow the official records.
- No local premium subsidy is automatically deducted. Check eligibility, budget, application and refund timing separately.
- The 0–365-day scenario assumes initial treatment within one age, remuneration grade and 2026 rule year. Re-treatment, injury-disease compensation pensions and partial absence benefits are excluded.
- Disability amounts are conditional scenarios. Check each benefit’s rules before adding medical or private-insurance payments.
Frequently asked questions
Can an owner with no employees apply?
An owner without employees can apply for COMWEL approval, but labor providers are excluded from this no-employee owner category.
Delivery or freight work alone does not identify the scheme.
Explain your contract and actual work relationship to COMWEL first.
Is the remuneration grade based on my actual sales?
The comparison uses an official selected remuneration grade, rather than converting sales into wages.
Higher grades raise both the premium base and the monetary-benefit wage.
Filing, approval and effective dates still matter; changing the grade after an accident does not retroactively increase coverage for that event.
For four absence days, are the first three days deducted?
Article 52 excludes a period of three days or fewer.
This comparison uses all recognized days when the period is four days or more.
They must be days you could not work because of treatment for an approved work injury, rather than ordinary days off or reduced sales.
Does remuneration grade 1 pay only 70% of the daily wage?
The basic 70% amount is KRW 57,792, but the Article-54(1) proviso cap gives KRW 66,048 before age reduction.
The paragraph-2 minimum-wage adjustment applies to the uncapped main-clause branch and must not override that cap.
Actual recognized days, age reductions and deferrals can change the result.
Showing the basic and adjusted amounts prevents underestimating the benefit when comparing grades.
Is every claimant aged 61 or older subject to a reduction?
Article 55 and Annex 1 establish age reductions, but qualifying cases can receive a two-year deferral from the start of treatment.
Age alone does not establish the exception.
Select unconfirmed until COMWEL checks it, and split periods crossing birthdays or the end of the deferral.
Can I add the annual disability pension and lump sum?
For disability grades 4–7 these are alternative methods, not simultaneous benefits.
The pension shown is one year of payments, not a lifetime total.
Ordinary domestic cases use pensions for grades 1–3 and lump sums for grades 8–14.
Foreign-resident nonnational exceptions, worsened pre-existing disability and pension advances need separate review.
Can late payment restore benefits for an accident during arrears?
An accident during arrears is subject to benefit restrictions.
Decree Article 124 provides an exception for payment by the 10th of the second month after the month containing the premium due date.
Do not calculate that date from the accident date or notice date.
Confirm the actual payment record and exception with COMWEL.
Do few premium-equivalent days mean insurance is always profitable?
This is an arithmetic comparison with a conditional absence benefit, not an expected return.
It omits accident probability, medical treatment, disability, other insurance and household liquidity.
Check whether you can sustain premiums, manage an income gap and obtain the correct coverage before deciding.
Official sources and your next action
Verified on October 7, 2026 (2026-10-07) through the Korean National Law Information OPEN API.
The Act is Law ID001760/MST283459; the Decree is ID003793/MST287491; premium collection uses MST247481 and Rule MST287859.
The Act and Decree versions took effect on 2026-07-01, and the remuneration, compensation and rate notices apply from 2026-01-01 through 2026-12-31.
Annex 1 and Annex 2 were checked through search serials 17976405 and 17976407 and the full current-law XML.
Save your assumptions, then confirm with COMWEL
Save a TXT or printout containing the inputs and pending items.
Confirm the scheme, actual rate, commuting treatment, coverage date, arrears exception and older-person deferral before applying or changing a grade.
The on-screen completion checkbox is your reminder; verify actual filing and approval through COMWEL.
Open COMWEL’s Employment and Accident Insurance service