Pension insurance; information and advice

Statutory pension insurance is a branch of social insurance. It covers almost all gainfully employed persons as compulsory insurance (for the self-employed partly on application) or as 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 those otherwise employed for their vocational training;
• home traders, development workers and persons doing military service or a voluntary social year or a voluntary ecological year or the Federal Voluntary Service;
• certain self-employed persons, e.g. teachers, educators and persons working in nursing, maternity, infant or child care who do not employ an employee subject to compulsory insurance in connection with their self-employed activity, midwives and maternity nurses as well as persons who do not regularly employ an employee subject to compulsory insurance in connection with their self-employed activity and who work permanently and essentially only for one client;
• Persons who are to be trained for gainful employment in youth welfare facilities or in vocational training centers or similar facilities for disabled persons;
• Persons during the period for which they receive sickness benefit, injury benefit, sickness benefit, transitional allowance, unemployment benefit or unemployment benefit II;
• 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, and who do not work at least 10 hours a week in their home environment;
• self-employed artists and publicists.

Exemption from compulsory insurance is possible in the case of marginal employment. Certain groups of people may be exempt from compulsory insurance. Anyone who is not compulsorily insured can take out voluntary insurance for periods after the age of 16 Voluntary insurance.

The following benefits are essentially 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, 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.

Pension advice

The City of Erlangen offers pension advice to citizens and employees in Erlangen.

The pension advice center of the Social Insurance Department of the City of Erlangen is currently establishing a new staff structure. For this reason, we are temporarily only available to a limited extent, both by telephone and in person. You can direct your inquiries either to the volunteer insured elders or directly to the information and advice center of the Deutsche
Pension Insurance (Tel.: +(49) 0911 / 23423100).

• Pension information
  As we do not have access to the pension insurance data, we ask you to submit a current pension statement with insurance history. This can be requested in advance by telephone on 0911/23 423 100.
• Evidence for the account clarification
  In order to be able to clarify an account, proof/documents are required from the insured person, e.g. school reports, apprenticeship contract, proof of studies, certificates, work book, proof of foreign working hours, naturalization certificate, etc.

Pension advice

Insured persons who work or live in Erlangen can make use of the pension advice service.

Please also refer to the section "Required documents".