Insured persons who do not fulfil the contribution-period requirements for an old-age pension by the date of their 65^th birthday or, on the contrary, insured persons who have exceeded the maximum contributory amount for their insurance record, may apply for the reimbursement of 1) contributions they have paid into their account or 2) contribution over-payments, but excluding the share paid by the public authorities.

Who is concerned

Insured employees or self-employed workers who:

• have an incomplete pension insurance record and who have not received, in Luxembourg or abroad, pension benefits based on the insurance periods concerned: these persons can choose to be reimbursed if they decide not to continue working to complete their insurance record in case they have less than the 10 years of insurance required for a personal pension; or
  
• overpaid contributions for their insurance record: they can claim the refund of excess contributions when they:
  • have exceeded the maximum payable as a result of a combination of activities during the course of their contribution history;
  • if they are salaried employees while receiving an old-age pension.

Prerequisites

In theory, applications for reimbursement can only be made if the person:

• is at least 65 years of age at the time of the application;
• have not benefited and do not currently benefit, in Luxembourg or abroad, from a personal pension based on the periods of pension contributions.

Deadlines

Applications for reimbursement must be submitted by the time the pension is paid, or else rights to it will be lost.

How to proceed

Filing an application

Applications for reimbursement of contributions must be sent by post to the pension fund to which the insured person last contributed.

Before issuing a refund, that pension fund will then calculate the amount contributed by the employee and employer. The total amount is adjusted to the cost of living.

Reimbursement at the age of 65

Incomplete contributions record

If, after the age of 65, an insured person does not fulfil the age condition for the granting of an old-age pension, and has not benefited, in Luxembourg or abroad, from pension payments based on the contribution periods, the contributions actually paid into their account, excluding the part borne by the public authorities, may be refunded to them. After the refund is paid, all rights to benefits are lost.

If the maximum contribution amount is exceeded

Where, after the combination of several activities or benefits for which contributions are required (such as two part-time jobs), the total contribution base of an insured person exceeds the maximum amount payable, the difference is not taken into account when the pension is calculated, but the insured person is entitled to a refund of the overpaid contributions.

Applications are generally made per calendar year (one application per year) and must be submitted by the time the pension is awarded. The person concerned can therefore submit a one-off application at the end of each year.

Reimbursements in the event of salaried work

If the beneficiary of a normal old-age pension is employed, they are entitled to a refund of contributions paid after the date of their 65^th birthday.

The reimbursement:

• consists exclusively of the share of contributions payable by the insured; and
• is not adjusted to the cost-of-living index number; and
  
• can be requested each calendar year.

Repayment of reimbursements

Persons who have previously applied for reimbursement of half of the contributions made to their account may reactivate the rights to the unrefunded portion if they have completed a new 48-month contributions period for the mandatory or continued insurance.

They can also pay back the amount of the adjusted reimbursed contributions by submitting an application for repayment of reimbursed contributions to the pension fund to which the applicant last contributed before the reimbursement.

The amount paid back includes the amount of the reimbursed contributions after application of a compound interest rate of 4% per full year, starting from the year following that in which the contributions were reimbursed until the end of the year preceding that in which the contributions were paid back.

The amount of the reimbursed contributions must be settled within 3 months of notification of the decision by the National Pension Insurance Fund, or it will be forfeited.

Appeals

In case of a dispute, the person concerned can file an appeal with the Management Committee of the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance pension) within 40 days of the notice of the decision.

The decision of the chairman of the Management Committee may be appealed before the Social Security Arbitration Tribunal (Conseil arbitral de la Sécurité sociale – CASS). The decision handed down by the CASS can be appealed against before the High Council of Social Security (Conseil Supérieur de la Sécurité Sociale).

All appeals must be made in writing within 40 days of the notice of the decision or the ruling. Beyond that time frame, no appeals are accepted, and the decision becomes final.

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