You must first submit your pension claim. There are various kinds of claims forms for the various kinds of pension. Your claim can also be made in the form of an informal letter. Pension claims can be submitted to a social security organisation, your local authority, your “Bezirkshauptmann” and town hall. Claims will be processed free of charge. All documentation you require to submit your claim to your social security provider will also be supplied to you free of charge.

 The reference date is the day on which it is determined whether you are entitled to a pension, whether you meet the necessary requirements, which insurance provider is to pay your pension benefits and how much these are.

The reference date will always be the first of a month.

• Where the pension is to be paid to the insured person, the reference date will be the date of submission of the pension claim if this is the first of a month, or otherwise it will be the first of the following month.
• Where the pension is to be paid to surviving dependents, the reference date will be the date of death of the insured person if this person died on the first of the month, or otherwise it will be the first of the following month.

The pension insurance provider with whom the insured person was insured for the greatest number of months in the 15 years prior to the reference date will be responsible for payment of any pension benefits.
If the insured person has paid no insurance contributions in the previous 15 years, the insurance provider with whom the insured person was last insured will be responsible for payment of any pension benefits.

The following pension insurance organisations are responsible for the payment of pension benefits:

ASVG
Pensionsversicherungsanstalt
Versicherungsanstalt für Eisenbahnen und Bergbau

GSVG and FSVG
Sozialversicherungsanstalt der gewerblichen Wirtschaft

BSVG
Sozialversicherungsanstalt der Bauern

Your insurance provider will process your claim and inform you of your entitlement.

Health care and rehabilitation claims will be covered by the pension insurance provider by whom the insured person was last insured.

Claims for rehabilitation cures accompanying a claim for pension entitlement due to incapacity will be covered by the pension insurance provider processing the pension claim.

Your pension insurance provider will provide you with a forecast of your individual pension entitlement on request!

As a rule, insured persons will be entitled to benefits with effect from the reference date, while surviving dependents will be entitled to benefits from the day following the day of death of the insured person (assuming that the claim is submitted within 6 months of the date of death of the insured person; otherwise their entitlement will commence on the date of submission of the claim).

If the deceased insured person was drawing a pension after 31 December 1996, the entitlement of the surviving dependents will commence on the first day of the month following the month in which the insured person died.

Pensions are paid monthly in arrears. Pension payments for April and October are each accompanied by a special payment. If a pension was not drawn in the month the first special payment is made, as well as in the five months preceding it, this payment is paid proportionately. The amount of the special payment is reduced by one sixth for each calendar month in which a pension was not drawn.