Leistungen A-Z

Forms: yes

Online procedure possible: yes

Written form required: yes

Personal appearance required: no

• Online application for miners' pension (without registration)
• Online application for miners' pension (with registration)
• Open cached online application

Special pension schemes apply to miners. Because of the stresses and health risks of the profession, there is the "pension for miners".

The amount of your pension for miners depends on your claims from the miners' pension insurance. If you have acquired further entitlements in the general pension insurance, for example through work outside mining, these do not count.

In addition to your miners' pension, you may earn a certain amount per year without your pension being reduced. How much you are allowed to earn is calculated individually and is stated in your pension notice.

You will not receive a miners' pension if you

• have already reached the standard retirement age, for example 67 years for those born in 1964 or younger, or
• engage in employment or self-employment outside mining which is substantially equivalent economically and qualitatively.

In addition to the pension for miners, there is also the so-called "old-age pension for miners who have been working underground for many years". You are entitled to it if you have completed the minimum insurance period of 25 years with continuous underground work and have reached the relevant age limit.
 

You can receive the miners' pension if you

• have not yet reached the standard retirement age,
• are unable to continue their previous work in mining as their main occupation due to illness or disability and
• you are also unable to carry out any other equivalent activity due to illness or disability. This refers to employment that is essentially economically equivalent and requires equivalent knowledge and skills.

In addition, prior to your reduced employability in mining, you must

• have paid compulsory miners' contributions for at least 3 years during the last 5 years and
• have fulfilled a qualifying period (minimum insurance period) of 5 years in the miners' pension insurance.

You can also receive the miners' pension from the age of 50 if you:

• are not employed or self-employed that is economically equivalent to your work in mining, and
• have completed the qualifying period (minimum insurance period) of 25 years.

Contribution periods due to permanent underground work will be credited to this waiting period.

You also fulfil the qualifying period if you have 25 years of contribution periods due to underground employment together with replacement periods for miners.
 

• 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 someone else makes the request:
  • Power of attorney or
  • Order of the Court of First Instance
     

none

You can apply for the miners' pension in writing, in person or online.

Written pension application:

• Download the application form for the pension for miners 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 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 the miners' pension at the desired 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 miners' 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 out the Miners' Pension Form 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 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 the miners' pension at the desired 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 miners' pension at the desired start of your pension, you will receive a rejection notice stating the reason for the rejection.

Personal request 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 requests missing documents if necessary.
• 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 the miners' pension at the desired 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 miners' 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 on time, you will receive your miners' 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.
 

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

• § 45 Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)
• § 242 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
• Overview: Online services on the website of the German Pension Insurance

Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS)