Leistungen A-Z

Forms: yes

Online procedure possible: yes

Written form required: yes

Personal appearance required: no

• Online application for old-age pension for long-term underground miners (without registration)
• Online application for old-age pension for long-term underground miners (with registration)
• Open cached online application

For miners, there are special regulations for pensions. This includes the "old-age pension for long-term underground miners". This old-age pension includes a benefit supplement for many years of underground work and is calculated from all entitlements of the general pension insurance and the miners' pension insurance.

When you can apply for your pension depends on the year in which you were born. The retirement age will be gradually raised:

• Year of birth from 1964: from 62 years
• Year of birth before 1964: increase to 62 years

You can determine which age limit applies to you in detail with the pension calculator of the German Pension Insurance.

Under certain conditions, you can retire at the age of 60. The prerequisite for this is that you

• were born before 1 January 1964, and
• adjustment allowance for redundant workers in the mining industry, or
• have received the Knappschaftsausgleichsleistung.

The qualifying period (minimum insurance period) for the old-age pension for miners who have worked underground for many years is 25 years. In addition to the constant work underground, this also includes months in which you have received adjustment money.

If you receive the old-age pension for long-term underground workers, you may earn up to EUR 6,300 per year without reducing your pension. If you earn more, your pension will be reduced.

• They are at least 60 years old.
• They have worked underground for a total of at least 25 years and paid contributions to the miners' pension insurance.

• valid identity card or passport
• Evidence not included in the insurance history, such as:
  • Offsetting certificates
  • Proof of training periods
  • Proof of unemployment
  • Proof of periods of illness
• if another person makes the request:
  • Power of attorney or
  • Order of the Court of First Instance

none

You can apply for a pension for miners who have worked underground for many years in writing, in person or online.

Written pension application:

• Download the application form for the old-age pension for miners who have been working underground for many years on the website of the German Pension Insurance. Fill out the form completely and compile the required documents.
• You can submit your completed and signed application with the required documents either:
  • send by post to the Knappschaft-Bahn-See or
  • at one of the local counselling centres.
• When your pension application has arrived, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See will check your application for completeness and, if necessary, request missing documents.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See checks the requirements for your pension entitlement and your insurance history for completeness. If necessary, it clarifies gaps in the insurance history.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See clarifies other issues, for example your health insurance relationship, whether you earn additional money or receive an accident pension.
• If you are entitled to an old-age pension at the start of your pension, you will receive a pension notice with details of the start, the start of the current payment and the amount. Furthermore, you will be informed about your rights and obligations.
• If you are not entitled to the old-age pension at the desired start of your pension, you will receive a rejection notice stating the reason for the rejection.

Pension application via online procedure:

• Go to the online portal of the German Pension Insurance and register. You can use your signature card, your identity card with electronic proof of identity or your electronic residence title.
• Fill in the old-age pension form for long-term underground miners and upload the necessary documents. You then submit your pension application online.
• When your pension application has arrived, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See of the German Pension Insurance will check your application for completeness and, if necessary, request missing documents.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See checks the requirements for your pension entitlement and the insurance history for completeness. If necessary, it clarifies gaps in the insurance history.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See clarifies other issues, for example your health insurance relationship, whether you earn additional money or receive an accident pension.
• If you are entitled to an old-age pension at the start of your pension, you will receive a pension notice with details of the start, the start of the current payment and the amount. Furthermore, you will be informed about your rights and obligations.
• If you are not entitled to the old-age pension at the desired start of your pension, you will receive a rejection notice stating the reason for the rejection.

Personal application in the consultation:

• Compile the necessary documents for the application and make an appointment at an information and advice centre of the German Pension Insurance.
• During the consultation, your pension application is usually recorded electronically and forwarded online.
• when your pension application has arrived, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See of the German Pension Insurance checks the application for completeness and, if necessary, requests missing documents.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See checks the requirements for your pension entitlement and the insurance history for completeness. If necessary, it clarifies gaps in the insurance history.
• The Knappschaft-Bahn-See clarifies other issues, for example your health insurance relationship, whether you earn additional money or receive an accident pension.
• If you are entitled to an old-age pension at the start of your pension, you will receive a pension notice with details of the start, the start of the current payment and the amount. Furthermore, you will be informed about your rights and obligations.
• If you are not entitled to the old-age pension at the desired start of your pension, you will receive a rejection notice stating the reason for the rejection.

The pension application can also be submitted for you by a person you trust. Please submit a corresponding power of attorney to the Knappschaft-Bahn-See. As long as the power of attorney is valid, the Knappschaft-Bahn-See will contact your authorized person exclusively.
 

If you have submitted the pension application in good time, you will receive your old-age pension at the earliest on the first day of the month at the beginning of which all the eligibility conditions are met.

If you submit the pension application more than 3 months after the end of the month in which all the eligibility conditions are met, you will receive your pension from the first day of the month in which the application is submitted.

As a rule, you can also determine a later start date than the earliest possible start of retirement. This option does not exist if another service provider has asked you to apply for a pension, for example the job centre.
 

German Pension Insurance
Knappschaft-Bahn-See
Pieperstrasse 14 – 28
D-44789 Bochum, Germany

E-mail: zentrale@kbs.de
Phone: 0234 3040

Local contacts can be found via the information and advice centre finder of the German Pension Insurance.

Phone: 0800 10004800 (Toll-Free)
Service hours:
Monday to Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• Information and advice centre finder of the German Pension Insurance
• Information on the service telephone for deaf and hearing-impaired people on the website of the German Pension Insurance

• § 40 Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)
• § 238 Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)

• Information on the pension for miners on the website of the German Pension Insurance
• Information on how to apply for your pension on the website of the German Pension Insurance
• Information on technical terms from pensions and rehabilitation on the website of the German Pension Insurance
• Pension start and pension amount calculator on the website of the German Pension Insurance
• Overview: Online services on the website of the German Pension Insurance

Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS)