Pension insurance; information and advice

Statutory pension insurance offers protection against the risks of old age, disability and death, particularly for employees, but also for certain self-employed persons and other groups of people.

Statutory pension insurance is a branch of social insurance. It covers the majority of all employed persons as compulsory insurance, compulsory application insurance or voluntary insurance.

Pension insurance is financed by contributions from insured persons and employers as well as federal subsidies.

The main insured persons are

• Employees working for remuneration as well as trainees or persons otherwise employed for their vocational training and persons who are to be trained for gainful employment in youth welfare facilities or in vocational training centers or similar facilities for disabled persons;
• Certain self-employed persons, e.g. teachers, nursery school teachers and persons working in nursing, maternity, infant or child care who do not employ any employees subject to compulsory insurance in connection with their self-employed activity, artists and publicists, tradespeople, tradespeople entered in the register of craftsmen and persons who do not regularly employ any employees subject to compulsory insurance in connection with their self-employed activity and who work on a permanent basis and essentially only for one client;
• Persons doing voluntary military service, a voluntary social or ecological year or federal voluntary service;
• Persons in receipt of income replacement benefits (e.g. sickness benefit, injury benefit, transitional allowance or unemployment benefit);
• Persons for whom child-raising periods are to be credited;
• Persons who care for a person in need of care with at least care level 2, who is entitled to benefits from social or private care insurance, in their home environment for at least 10 hours a week, regularly spread over at least two days a week;
• Persons who are compulsorily insured on application (e.g. development workers, self-employed persons who are not compulsorily insured by law);

Members of liberal professions covered by a professional pension scheme (e.g. doctors, lawyers) can apply for exemption from compulsory pension insurance. Exemption from the pension insurance obligation is also possible for low-paid employment ("mini-job").

Certain groups of people (e.g. civil servants, judges) are exempt from compulsory insurance.

Anyone who is not compulsorily insured by law can, under certain conditions, apply for compulsory insurance or take out voluntary insurance for periods after the age of 16

Essentially, the following benefits are granted: Medical rehabilitation measures and benefits for participation in working life to maintain, improve and restore earning capacity, including economic assistance (e.g. transitional allowance, travel and transportation costs, household help), pensions to insured persons and surviving dependants, pension compensation and contribution refunds as well as contributions for pensioners' health insurance.

The statutory pension insurance institutions provide information, advice, accept applications and grant the benefits provided for by law.
The insurance offices at the district offices and independent cities, the municipal administrations and the insurance advisors provide information, advice and accept applications.

You can obtain information by calling our free service number 0800 1000 4800.