Leistungen A-Z

Forms: yes

Online procedure possible: yes

Written form required: yes

Personal appearance required: no
 

• Downloadable pension form package
• Online application for the disability pension (without registration)
• Online application for the disability pension (with registration)
• Open cached online application

The disability pension supports you if you can no longer work for health reasons and have not yet reached the regular retirement age. It replaces your income to a certain extent.

Before you can receive the disability pension, the German Pension Insurance checks whether rehabilitation can help you to earn your own living again. This includes medical and vocational rehabilitation, for example further training for professional reorientation or work aids.

The German Pension Insurance determines the extent to which you can still work on the general labour market. Depending on the situation, you will receive either

• a pension due to total incapacity for work, or
• a partial disability pension.

If, from a medical point of view, you are partially disabled and you are unemployed because there is no performance-related part-time job, you can also receive a pension for full disability.

Even as a disabled person, you can receive the disability pension. This applies, for example, if you work in a special disability institution and cannot work on the general labour market due to your disability.

The amount of your disability pension depends on your pension account with the German Pension Insurance. Your annual pension information will state what you can expect in the event of full disability. If you are only partially disabled, half of this will be taken as a basis.

For younger people, it is not only the few years of professional experience that count. Rather, there is the so-called attribution time. It is the period between the onset of the disability and a certain age stipulated by law. The additional period puts you in the same position as if you had paid contributions up to this age.

If your pension begins before the relevant age limit, you will have to accept deductions. For each month you retire earlier, the deduction is 0.3 percent, but no more than 10.8 percent in total.

If you receive a disability pension, you can earn a certain amount with a part-time job.

• In the case of full disability, you may only work less than 3 hours a day. If you earn more than EUR 6,300 gross per year, your pension will no longer be paid in full or possibly not at all.
• In the event of partial disability, you may only work less than 6 hours a day. How much you are allowed to earn is calculated individually.

An application for a disability pension does not mean that you will never be allowed to work again. It is often possible to recover from serious health setbacks through targeted treatment and support. Your disability pension is usually granted for a limited period of 3 years. You will only receive an open-ended pension in a few exceptions.

Note: If you were born before 2 January 1961, you may be eligible for the "partial disability pension". This pension takes into account whether you can continue to pursue your previous profession.

• Due to illness or disability, you can enter the general labour market.

  • work less than 3 hours a day (full disability) or
  • work at least 3 hours but less than 6 hours a day (partial disability)
  • Exception: If, from a medical point of view, you are partially disabled and unemployed because there is no performance-related part-time job, you may also be able to receive a pension for full disability.

• You cannot improve your earning capacity again by

  • medical rehabilitation, or
  • vocational rehabilitation, such as retraining or work aids

• You have not yet reached the standard retirement age. This is the date from which you can draw the regular standard old-age pension.

• You have been insured for at least 5 years (general qualifying period)

• You have paid into the pension insurance for at least 3 years in the last 5 years before your reduced earning capacity.

• Exception: If you have already completed the 5-year qualifying period before 1 January 1984, you may be entitled to a pension even without the 3 years of compulsory contributions. The prerequisite is that in the period from 1 January 1984 until the onset of your reduced earning capacity, each calendar month is subject to so-called qualifying periods, for example through periods of voluntary contributions or, under certain conditions, periods of unemployment.

• The general waiting period of 5 years includes:

  • contribution periods (compulsory and voluntary),
  • replacement times,
  • child-rearing periods,
  • periods of pension equalisation and pension splitting between spouses,
  • periods of marginal employment with contributions paid by the employer, and
  • Supplements to earnings points for earnings from marginal employment exempt from compulsory insurance.
  • Under certain conditions, you can also fulfil the general qualifying period of five years prematurely, for example if you have become less able to work due to an accident at work).

Reduced earning capacity for people with disabilities

If you have not fulfilled the general qualifying period of 5 years before the onset of the disability, there is still the possibility to receive a pension for full disability: You must then

• meet the waiting period of 20 years, for example have worked for 20 years in a workshop for disabled people, and
• have remained fully incapacitated without interruption.

• 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

• List of your health disorders

• Names and addresses of your treating physicians

• all information on medical examinations by public bodies such as health insurance funds, employment agencies or employers' liability insurance association

• details of your hospital and rehabilitation stays in recent years, and

• a chronological list of your professional activities

• If someone else makes the request:

  • Power of attorney or
  • Order of the Court of First Instance

none

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

Tip: Before you submit your application, you can seek advice from the German Pension Insurance.

Written pension application:

• Download the package of forms for pensions due to reduced earning capacity on the website of the German Pension Insurance. Complete the application for an insured person's pension and the forms mentioned therein and compile the necessary documents.
• You can submit your completed and signed application with the required documents either:
  • send by post to the German Pension Insurance or
  • at one of the local counselling centres.
• When your pension application has arrived, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt.
• The German Pension Insurance will check your application for completeness and, if necessary, request missing documents.
• The German Pension Insurance checks the requirements for your pension entitlement and the insurance history for completeness. If necessary, it clarifies gaps in the insurance history.
• The German Pension Insurance will check your reduced earning capacity on the basis of your information and submitted documents. If necessary for the assessment, further medical documents are requested, such as reports or expert opinions.
• The German Pension Insurance clarifies other issues, for example your health insurance relationship, whether you earn additional or receive another pension.
• If you are entitled to the pension due to reduced earning capacity, 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 disability 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 application 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 German Pension Insurance will check your application for completeness and, if necessary, request missing documents.
• The German Pension Insurance checks the requirements for your pension entitlement and the insurance history for completeness. If necessary, it clarifies gaps in the insurance history.
• The German Pension Insurance will check your reduced earning capacity on the basis of your information and submitted documents. If necessary for the assessment, further medical documents are requested (e.g. reports or expert opinions).
• The German Pension Insurance clarifies other issues, for example your health insurance relationship, whether you earn additional or receive another pension.
• If you are entitled to the pension due to reduced earning capacity, 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 disability 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 application for a pension due to reduced earning capacity is usually recorded electronically and forwarded online.
• When your pension application has arrived, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt.
• The German Pension Insurance checks the application for completeness and, if necessary, requests missing documents.
• The German Pension Insurance checks the requirements for your pension entitlement and your insurance history for completeness. If necessary, it clarifies gaps in the insurance history.
• The German Pension Insurance will check your reduced earning capacity on the basis of your information and submitted documents. If necessary for the assessment, further medical documents are requested (e.g. reports or expert opinions).
• The German Pension Insurance clarifies other issues, for example your health insurance relationship, whether you earn additional money or receive an accident pension.
• If you are entitled to a pension due to reduced earning capacity, 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 disability 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 German Pension Insurance. As long as the power of attorney is valid, it is addressed exclusively to your authorized person.

Permanent pensions:

• If you apply for a pension in the first 3 months after the onset of the disability, your pension starts from the first day of the month following the onset of your disability. If you submit your application later, the pension will not be paid until the beginning of the month of application.

Temporary pensions:

• As a rule, a fixed-term pension begins at the earliest on the seventh calendar month after the onset of the reduction in earning capacity. It is sufficient if you apply for the pension by the end of this seventh calendar month. If you submit your application later, the pension will not be paid until the beginning of the month of application.
• If the determination of full incapacity for work results in your entitlement to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit or daily sickness benefit, your pension for total disability may start before the seventh calendar month after the onset of the incapacity for work.

German Pension Insurance

• Addresses and service numbers of the competent institutions of the German Pension Insurance

You can find the pension insurance institution responsible for you via the information and advice centre finder of the German Pension Insurance.

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

E-mail: drv@drv-bund.de

• 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

• § 43 Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)
• § 241 Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)
• § 101 Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)
• § 302a Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)
• § 302b Sixth Book of the Social Code (SGB VI)

• General information on the disability pension on the website of the German Pension Insurance
• Information brochure on the disability pension on the website of the German Pension Insurance
• Information on additional earnings for the disability pension on the website of the German Pension Insurance
• Information brochure on the disability pension on the website of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs