Offsetting an Increased IV Pension Against Supplementary Pension Provision

Facts

E., born in 1958, was insured with the Pension Fund X. (PK X.) from 1 April 1995 to 30 October 1996. Due to mental impairments, he was initially awarded a half pension by the IV-Stelle with a degree of disability of 56%, and from 1 January 2001 a full pension with a degree of disability of 71%. However, PK X. refused to pay disability benefits from the occupational pension scheme, as the relevant incapacity for work had already occurred before taking up the position. After court proceedings, the obligation of PK X. to pay benefits was affirmed. The Administrative Court awarded E. a supplementary disability pension with a degree of disability of 56% from 1 November 1998 and, additionally, the amount of a half mandatory disability pension from 1 January 2001. PK X. appealed this decision.

Considerations

The Federal Court held that the obligation of a pension fund to pay benefits for disability that occurred or worsened after the end of the pension relationship requires a close factual and temporal connection between the relevant incapacity for work and the subsequent disability. Since in the present case the regulations link the concept of disability to a specific employment relationship and the status of insured person, in the absence of an express revision clause, a gap in insurance coverage from the more extensive pension provision must be assumed for an increase in the degree of disability that occurred after the end of the pension relationship.

According to the offsetting…