As of: March 8, 2024, 5:27 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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A new law should give pensioners more money.
But implementation is proving more difficult than expected.
Berlin – A significant increase in disability pensions is planned for around three million pensioners in the summer.
In particular, those who retired between January 2002 and June 2014 can expect a 7.5 percent increase.
An increase of 4.5 percent is planned for pensioners whose retirement dates were between July 2014 and December 2018.
However, the pension insurance company announced at the end of February that the pension adjustment was not working as planned.
The social association VdK reacted with sharp criticism and described the situation as a “fiasco” for pension insurance.
Pension increases come in two stages
On February 27, 2024, the German Pension Insurance stated in a statement: “Due to the very complex technical implementation, the calculation and payment of the surcharge should take place in two stages.”
The first payment is to take place as planned in July 2024 and will be paid out “separately from the current pension [at] the middle of the month”.
The second stage of the payment is not scheduled until December 2025.
In July 2024, those affected will receive a surcharge, but this is only a temporary solution and is not based on the correct calculation.
It is possible that some people will be entitled to even more money retroactively in December.
“From July 1st, pensioners will be paid a subsidy that is easily calculated and of a comparable amount.
The DRV will only be able to pay out the appropriate surcharge to those affected on December 1, 2025.
“It will then also be checked whether the simple surcharge was too low and needs to be compensated retroactively,” said a statement from the VdK.
Verena Bentele, the chairwoman of the VdK, described the situation as “a fiasco for the administration of the pension insurance and shows that there is a lot wrong in the area of digitalization and human resources.”
Millions of pensioners will soon receive a better pension.
© Lisa F. Young/Imago
However, the pension insurance emphasizes: “The law is designed to ensure that everyone entitled to the supplement gets what they are entitled to.
It is currently still in the ongoing legislative process.”
More pensions for disabled people and widows
The new law aims to improve the situation of pensioners who are entitled to disability pensions and widows' pensions and who have been disadvantaged in the past.
Improvements were made for this group of pensioners in 2014 and 2019, but the new regulations only ever applied to new pensioners.
The new law aims to address this inequality and also support those who retired before 2014.
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The positive news for retirees is that they will definitely receive more money in July 2024.
Due to the new regulation, the federal government expects additional spending of 1.3 billion euros in 2024 and 2.6 billion euros in 2025.