Do I have to apply for my company pension myself? Yes, as a rule. The company pension and the state pension come from different bodies, so you contact the provider or former employer yourself, ideally three months before retirement. Missed monthly amounts expire after three years from the end of the year, the right itself only after 30 years.
Deadlines around the company pension application in Germany.
Example
Typical range
Limitation of single monthly amounts
3 years from the end of the year due
Limitation of the right itself
30 years
Providers obliged to join the Digitale Rentenübersicht
from 1,000 contracts managed
Recommended lead time
about 3 months before retirement
Deadlines under the company pension act and the Civil Code.
The three month lead time is a guide value from practice.
Worked example
Forgotten direct insurance, due since July 2022
Example figures: a pensioner notices in October 2026 that she never applied for her company pension of EUR 120 a month.
Due since
July 2022
Amounts from 2022, expired at the end of 2025
6 × 120 = EUR 720
Amounts January 2023 to October 2026
46 × 120 = EUR 5,520
Ongoing company pension
EUR 120 a month
She can claim EUR 5,520 in arrears and receives the pension from now on. The EUR 720 from 2022 are lost if the insurer relies on the limitation.
Why the company pension does not start by itself
Your state pension is paid by the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, your company pension by your employer, a fund or an insurer. Your provider does not automatically know when you retire, especially if you left the company years ago.
Some providers write to you before the agreed start date, but do not rely on it. If you want the company pension earlier, for example together with an early state pension, German law grants it explicitly only on your request.
Where to apply for your company pension
Who is responsible is written in your pension promise or policy.
Pension route
Apply to
Typical documents
Direct promise
former employer
tax ID, health insurer, bank details
Support fund
the fund named in your letters
tax ID, health insurer, bank details
Direct insurance
insurer named in the policy
policy number, tax ID, health insurer
Pensionskasse or pension fund
the fund
membership number, tax ID, health insurer
Employer insolvent
PSVaG, Cologne
number from the statement of your right
Early start
as above
also the state pension decision
Finding a forgotten company pension
Employers and providers must tell you on request whether and how much of a pension right you have, even after you leave. The answer must be clear and in text form. Ask each former employer in writing.
The Digitale Rentenübersicht shows state, company and private provision. Providers sending yearly statements and managing more than 1,000 contracts must be connected. Direct promises are not obliged and are therefore often missing. Old payslips with a salary conversion line also give clues.
Deadlines: what expires and what does not
The right to your company pension itself only expires after 30 years. Single monthly amounts fall under the regular three year limitation period, which as a rule starts at the end of the year the amount was due.
A forgotten application therefore does not cost you the whole company pension, but possibly the first years. If the provider relies on the limitation, older amounts are lost.
Choose pension or lump sum in time
Some contracts allow a lump sum instead of the company pension, but require the choice by a cut-off date before retirement. The deadline is in the policy.
Think of health insurance: on a lump sum it charges contributions for ten years as if it were a pension.
Step by step
List all former employers and contracts.
Ask each provider in writing for information on your pension right.
Apply three months before retirement.
Choose between pension and lump sum before the cut-off date.
Give tax ID, health insurer and bank details.
Checklist
All providers known
Information received in text form
Application made three months before retirement
Deadline for a lump sum checked
Health insurer informed
Common mistakes
Believing the state pension application also covers the company pension
Forgetting a company pension from a job decades ago
Missing the deadline for the lump sum choice
Waiting so long that monthly amounts expire
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Will the provider write to me before retirement?
Some do, but there is no duty.
Apply yourself if nothing has arrived three months before retirement.
Does my state pension application cover the company pension?
No.
You apply for the company pension with the provider or former employer.
How do I find a company pension from a former employer?
Ask the former employer in writing, it must reply in text form.
Also use the Digitale Rentenübersicht.
Can I get my company pension backdated?
Yes, for monthly amounts that have not yet expired.
Older amounts are lost if the provider relies on the limitation.
What do I need for the application?
Usually tax ID, health insurer, bank details and the contract number,
for an early start also the state pension decision.
Do survivors have to apply for the company pension?
Yes.
When the benefit is due they have their own right to information from the provider.
