The path to a disability pension
An application for a disability pension is usually made at an already difficult time in life. That makes it all the more helpful to know how the process works. This article explains the requirements, how the procedure runs and what to watch out for.
The insurance requirements
Under § 43 SGB VI, three conditions must be met before your health is even assessed:
1. You have completed the general qualifying period of five years. Contribution periods, child-raising periods and substitute periods count towards it.
2. In the last five years before the onset of reduced earning capacity, there are at least three years of compulsory contributions for insured employment or self-employment.
3. You have not yet reached the regular retirement age.
The five-year window from point 2 is extended by certain periods without compulsory contributions, for example periods of illness or unemployment, child-raising credit periods and schooling after your 17th birthday. Periods of receiving sickness benefit or unemployment benefit usually count as compulsory contribution periods. People who were self-employed without pension insurance for a long time, or not insured at all, may lose their entitlement.
After an accident at work, an occupational disease or a service-related injury, the qualifying period may be deemed completed early (§ 53 SGB VI). And people who already had full reduced earning capacity before completing the qualifying period can receive a full disability pension after a qualifying period of 20 years.
The medical requirement
What matters is how many hours a day you can still work under the usual conditions of the general labour market. Under three hours means full, three to under six hours partial reduced earning capacity. The diagnosis alone is not decisive — your capacity to work is. The most common causes are mental illnesses, followed by musculoskeletal disorders, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Rehabilitation before pension
Before a pension is granted, the pension insurance checks whether medical rehabilitation or support for participation in working life could help. That is why rehabilitation is often offered first. If it turns out that your earning capacity cannot be restored, the rehabilitation application is treated as a pension application. This does not put you at a disadvantage — on the contrary, the rehabilitation discharge report is often an important document in the pension procedure.
How the application works
You apply to your pension insurance provider — online, in writing, at an information and advice centre or via its voluntary insurance advisers. Helpful are:
Documents: medical findings and doctors' reports from recent years, a list of the doctors and clinics treating you, rehabilitation reports and your insurance record.
Medical assessment: the pension insurance evaluates the findings and often has you examined by its own or appointed assessors. Describe openly how your limitations affect your everyday life, and do not play anything down.
Decision: the procedure often takes several months. The notice states the type of reduced earning capacity, the onset date, the pension start, the time limit and the amount.
If your application is rejected, you can lodge an objection within one month. A second review is often successful, especially if new medical findings are available. Social welfare associations and lawyers specialising in social law can help.
Time limits and pension start
Most disability pensions are time-limited, for a maximum of three years at a stretch (§ 102(2) SGB VI). You must apply for an extension in good time. After nine years of time-limited payments in total, it is assumed that your health will not improve, and the pension becomes permanent.
A time-limited pension is only paid from the seventh calendar month after the onset (§ 101(1) SGB VI). If the onset is in March, for example, the pension starts in October. The time in between is often bridged by sickness benefit, paid for up to 78 weeks for the same illness. You can estimate the amount with the sick pay calculator. If you no longer receive sickness benefit, you may be entitled to unemployment benefit under certain conditions.
Tip: estimate the amount in advance
With your pension statement and the expected onset date you can estimate the pension in advance with the disability pension calculator. That way you know early on what amount you can plan with and whether supplementary basic income support or additional earnings make sense.