The disability pension is a replacement benefit which can be granted to you if:

• you are less than 65 years old; and
• you are unable to carry out:
  • your last job; or
  • any other job that is compatible with your strengths or abilities.

Who is concerned

All resident or non-resident persons who:

• have a disability, i.e. who have lost the capacity to work preventing them from performing the job they were last employed to do, or any other job that is compatible with their strengths or abilities by virtue of:
  • long-term illness;
  • infirmity;
  • wear and tear of the body; and
• are or were affiliated to the Luxembourg general pension insurance scheme.

Prerequisites

Medical condition

You are regarded as having a disability if you have suffered a loss of your capacity to work which prevents you from carrying out:

• the job you were last doing; or
• any other job that is compatible with your strengths and abilities.

Disability status is determined on the basis of an opinion issued by the Social Security Medical Board (Contrôle médical de la sécurité sociale – CMSS).

Administrative conditions

Qualifying period for insurance

The criterion in respect of the qualifying period is fulfilled if you have been affiliated for at least 12 months to a compulsory, continued or optional insurance scheme during the 3 years prior to the date of:

• the disability that is found to exist; or
• the expiration of the period for which sickness benefits are payable.

You do not need to fulfil this qualification criterion if the disability is due to an accident or a recognised occupational disease occurring during the period of affiliation.

Professional activity

If you are in receipt of a disability pension, you may carry out a salaried or self-employed professional activity the income from which, spread over a calendar year, does not exceed one third of the social minimum wage.

Age

You must not have reached the age of 65.

How to proceed

Filing the application

Disability pensions are granted only if formally applied for.

As a general rule, you must file the pension application in your country of residence.

Exceptions to this principle may apply, depending on the place where you were last affiliated.

Last affiliation in Luxembourg

If you were last affiliated to a scheme in Luxembourg, you can lodge your application with the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance pension – CNAP), regardless of your place of residence.

You can download the application form from 'Forms / Online services'.

If you have worked in several countries, the CNAP will submit the pension applications to the pension bodies abroad.

Last affiliation outside Luxembourg

If you were last affiliated to a scheme outside Luxembourg, you can lodge your application in:

• the country in which you reside; or
• the country where you last worked.

The relevant body in the foreign country in question will then be required to get in touch with all the other countries in which you have any pension entitlements.

General considerations where several countries are involved

All the steps to be taken are conditional on Luxembourg having a bilateral or multilateral agreement with the foreign country or countries concerned.

The competent insurance body of a Member State of the European Union gets in touch with the pension body of each country in which you have paid contributions. You will receive from each country a pension proportional to the length of affiliation, provided the medical and administrative conditions are fulfilled there in accordance with the applicable legislation.

The same principle applies in respect of:

• Switzerland;
• Iceland;
• Norway;
• Liechtenstein; and
• third countries with which Luxembourg has concluded agreements.

Disability resulting from an accident in the workplace or an occupational disease

Where the disability is principally due to an accident in the workplace or an occupational disease, the disability pension will not become payable until the date of consolidation, that is to say, the point in time at which the injury has settled down and become definitive. That date is determined by the Social Security Medical Board (CMSS).

Thus, it is pointless to lodge an application for a disability pension for as long as the date of consolidation has not been determined; until then, only the Accident Insurance Association (Association d’assurance accident - AAA) remains competent.

Indeed, since the AAA and the CNAP are 2 distinct administrative bodies, you are required to lodge a separate application with each of those 2 institutions, and thus:

• first of all, submit a request to the AAA to grant an accident pension; and
• then, lodge an application for a disability pension with the pension fund that is competent at the time of consolidation of the injury.

Application processing time

The processing time of the application for a disability pension will depend on:

• the complexity of the case; and
• where applicable, the response time of the concerned relevant bodies abroad.

Once the application has been processed, you will receive a decision which can be appealed.

Start of the disability pension

The start date of the disability pension will depend on:

• the nature of the disability (temporary or of indeterminate duration); and
• your professional situation as at the date of the disability found to exist.

The start date of the disability is determined on the basis of an opinion issued by the Social Security Medical Board (CMSS).

If so requested by the CMSS, you must undergo new medical examinations to check your state of disability.

Payment of disability pensions

Disability pensions:

• are paid monthly and in advance; and
• cease to be paid at the end of the month of your death or if the conditions for granting them are no longer fulfilled.

Anti-overlap provisions

Anti-overlap provisions are applicable in two scenarios:

Concurrent receipt of a disability pension and work

In principle, the granting of a disability pension is incompatible with carrying out a professional activity in Luxembourg or abroad.

If you carry out a salaried or self-employed activity, the income derived from that activity must not exceed one third of the social minimum wage.

If you carry out a self-employed activity in Luxembourg, you must apply to the Joint Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale – CCSS) to be exempted from affiliation.

Concurrent receipt of a disability pension and an accident pension

If a disability pension is received at the same time as an accident pension, the former pension may be reduced.

Loss of entitlement to a disability pension

The disability pension will be withdrawn if you:

• no longer satisfy the disability criteria;
• carry out a self-employed activity subject to insurance contributions;
• carry out a salaried activity with an income in excess of one third of the social minimum wage per year.

Disability pension benefits will not be payable if the disability is the result of:

• you own intentional doing; and/or
• a crime you were committing.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact