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 "pension for partial disability in the event of occupational disability" is a special arrangement for insured persons born before 2.1.1961.

• This pension takes into account whether you can still pursue your previous profession.
• If you were born later, you can instead receive the regular disability pension. Whether you can still work in your previous profession does not matter.

The pension due to partial disability in the event of occupational disability supports you if you can no longer work in your profession for health reasons and have not yet reached the regular retirement age. It serves to some extent as a substitute for your income.

Occupational disability means that you can only work less than 6 hours a day due to illness or disability. If you apply for the pension, the German Pension Insurance checks whether you can still do reasonable work in a comparable profession for at least 6 hours a day. In addition to your health, your knowledge and skills play a role.

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. Half of this pension corresponds to the pension for partial disability in the event of occupational disability. If your pension begins before the relevant age limit, you will have to accept reductions that reduce your pension. For each month you retire earlier, the deduction is 0.3 percent, but no more than 10.8 percent in total.

If you receive the pension, you can earn a certain amount with a part-time job. How much you are allowed to earn is determined individually.

Your disability pension in the event of occupational disability is usually granted for a limited period of 3 years. You will only receive an unlimited pension in certain exceptions.

• You were born before 2.1.1961.
• You can work less than 6 hours a day in your previous profession due to illness or disability.
• You have not yet reached the standard retirement age. This is when you can draw the regular old-age pension.
• You have been covered by pension insurance 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 occupied by so-called qualifying periods, for example through periods of voluntary contributions or, under certain conditions, periods of unemployment.
• Under certain conditions, you can also complete the general waiting period of 5 years prematurely, for example if you are reduced in earning capacity due to an accident at work.

• 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

• Information about your hospital and rehabilitation stays in recent years

• 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 a disability pension in writing, in person or online. In the course of the procedure, the pension insurance checks whether the "pension due to partial disability in the event of occupational disability" is also suitable for you.

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, it requests further medical documents, 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 partial disability in the event of occupational disability, you will receive a pension notice with details of the beginning, 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 pension due to partial disability in the event of occupational disability, 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 for a disability pension 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, it requests further medical documents, 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 partial disability in the event of occupational disability, you will receive a pension notice with details of the beginning, 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 pension due to partial disability in the event of occupational disability, 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, she will request further medical documents.
• 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 the pension due to partial disability in the event of occupational disability, you will receive a pension notice with details of the beginning, 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 pension due to partial disability in the event of occupational disability, 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.

German Pension Insurance

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

German Pension Insurance

Phone (hotline): 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.

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)
• § 240 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