Life plays by its own rules – and it's not always fair
Disability benefits
We want you to enjoy a long, healthy life. But if you do suffer misfortune, it's good to know that your pension fund provides disability insurance and you will receive a pension no matter what – quickly, pragmatically and for the rest of your life with BVK.
Disabled doesn't have to mean unemployed
For years at BVK, we have had an established and customer-friendly process that is unique within the industry: a team of specialists assesses entitlement to a disability pension. We distinguish between two types of pension. The incapacity pension is based on a ruling of the Federal Invalidity Insurance (IV). The occupational disability pension, on the other hand, is determined by BVK with the help of medical consultants' reports.
An assessment of whether a person is able to continue practising their customary profession is carried out. If this is not possible, BVK will grant a full or partial disability pension. A full disability pension amounts to 60% of the insured salary and is paid out until the person would have retired. At that point, the disability pension is replaced by the old-age pension, with BVK making both the employer and employee contributions up to the date of "retirement". In order to minimise the shortfall in income in the event that an occupational disability pension is paid out, BVK will also pay out a bridging pension to make up for the absence of the IV pension that is not yet being paid out.
Disability pensions are financed by the risk portion of the contribution payments. Thanks to a constant fall in the amount of disability pensions to be paid out, the contribution was reduced from 3% of the insured salary to its current level of 2% in 2017. This reduction reflects the success of BVK's model.
Please contact our team of specialists directly if you have any questions.
«I would like to thank BVK's Benefits Services for their consistently friendly advice. They gave me confidence during this difficult time and helped me with some difficult decisions. It's reassuring to know that there is someone I can call if I have any questions.»
Ruzica Hezeli (63)
Incapacity pension recipient
Frequently asked questions regarding disability benefits
Anyone who, as a result of illness or accident, is at least 25% disabled and who, at the start of the incapacity to work that led to the disability was insured by BVK, is entitled to benefits. The decision regarding the existence and degree of a disability is primarily made on the basis of an examination by a BVK medical examiner.
Yes. A distinction is made between occupational disability and employment disability.
The insured person is said to have an occupational disability if he or she is wholly or partly unable to carry out his or her previous occupation on health grounds permanently or for an extended period of time.
The amount of your disability pension is listed on your pension fund statement. In the event of full occupational or employment disability, it is 60% of the insured salary. In the event of partial disability, the pension is determined in line the degree of disability as follows:
In addition to a disability pension, those who are fully disabled will also receive a supplement of CHF 21,510 (75% of the maximum simple AHV pension) until AHV/IV payment commences.
For those who are partially disabled, the supplement will be determined on the basis of the degree of disability, and for those who are employed parttime it will be decreased in line with the level of employment as well. The level of employment before the disability is authoritative.
If the Federal Disability Insurance retroactively awards benefits, the disabled person must reimburse BVK for the supplement for the same period and in the same amount as the Federal Disability Insurance benefits.
Important:
The employee must register with the Federal Disability Insurance no later than six months after commencement of the disability. Otherwise, the entitlement to the bridging subsidy will only be available when the Federal Disability Insurance benefits commence at the earliest.
Yes. As a disabled person, you are entitled to a disabled person’s child’s pension for your children as well as for stepchildren and foster children, provided you can prove that you are responsible for supporting them. The disabled person’s child’s pension will be paid until the end of the month in which the child turns 20. For children who are still receiving training or education or who draw a full pension from the Federal Disability Insurance, the entitlement will last until completion of the training or education, but no later than their 25th birthday.
The disabled person’s child’s pension is 20% of the disability pension.
The BVK disability pension will be reduced if, together with benefits from other (domestic and foreign) social insurance schemes and any income that continues to be earned, the projected lost gross income (100%) is exceeded.
You must report any change that affects the benefit entitlement to BVK immediately. In particular, this includes:
- Change in health condition
- A benefit awarded by another domestic or foreign insurance company
- Decisions regarding a change in the degree of disability under Federal Disability Insurance, accident insurance or military insurance
- Commencement/discontinuation of employment or a change in employment income
- Births, deaths, changes in civil status and changes in foster care
- For children who are over age 20: Commencement, interruption or early end of training/education as well as the award or discontinuation of a full disability pension
- Pretrial detention, execution of sentences and measures in Switzerland or abroad
Benefits drawn without entitlement must be reimbursed to BVK
Information about the AHV contribution requirement and the amount of the AHV contributions is provided by your local AHV office or the competent compensation office. Further information can be found in AHV/IV information sheet 2.03 «Non-employed contributions to Old-Age and Survivors’ Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (IV) and Income Compensation Insurance (IC)» (available at www.ahv-iv.info).
Yes. However, a purchase will have no effect on the amount of the disability pension. It increases the savings capital and thus the expected retirement pension.