Calculation of Supplementary Pensions for Disabled Persons Who Were Already Recipients of a Married Couple's Old-Age Pension from the Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHV) Prior to the Accident

Facts

Otto S., born in 1917, continued to work partially even after reaching the AHV retirement age and was therefore compulsorily insured with the Vaud Insurance against the consequences of occupational and non-occupational accidents. On January 18, 1985, he suffered a shoulder joint injury in a traffic accident, which has since prevented him from pursuing gainful employment.

The Vaud Insurance granted Otto S. daily allowances and an integrity indemnity, but denied his claim for a disability pension from the compulsory accident insurance, as the married couple's old-age pension from the AHV of CHF 23,328 per year to which he had been entitled since 1982 already exceeded 90% of his insured earnings, and therefore no supplementary pension resulted from the differential calculation pursuant to Art. 20 para. 2 of the Federal Accident Insurance Act (UVG).

Otto S. filed a complaint against this decision and requested the granting of a disability pension from the compulsory accident insurance. The Insurance Court of the Canton of Bern upheld the complaint and referred the matter back to the Vaud Insurance, as it was of the opinion that in calculating the supplementary pension for partially employed old-age pensioners, only benefits based on the same event or with the same economic function should be compared.

Considerations

The Federal Insurance Court overturned the decision of the Insurance Court of the Canton of Bern. It stated that in interpreting Art. 20 para. 2 UVG, it is significant that the statutory text generally refers to "the pension of the IV or the AHV" without in any way restricting their eligibility for consideration. Similarly, Art. 31 para. 4 UVG, which regulates the same issue in the case of supplementary pensions for survivors, generally and without restriction refers to "the pensions of the AHV or the IV". Therefore, the pensions of the AHV or the IV are to be taken into account in full.

The court further stated that the Federal Council was authorized, based on the delegation norm in Art. 20 para. 3 UVG, to issue special regulations for the calculation of…