In recent years, many Germans have taken out basic pension insurance (also known as the Rürup pension) in order to strengthen their old-age provision. They were attracted not least by tax advantages in the savings phase.
But the longer these contracts run, the more often it becomes apparent that the performance is disappointing. There are also massive disadvantages that were not made clear to many consumers when they signed up:
- The capital cannot be inherited, lent on or transferred.
- The costs of a basic pension are often very high. It is not uncommon for costs to be charged in excess of ten percent, which is particularly harmful for long-term investments.
- Without optional survivor protection (which incurs additional costs), capital is forfeited upon death.
- When you reach the age limit, no one-time payment is possible, but only a monthly annuity of the capital saved.
Customers don’t get their money
However, the most important disadvantage turns out to be when a customer wants to cash in on his policy prematurely: unlike life insurance, a basic annuity cannot be canceled and paid out. Cancellation will only result in the policy being suspended. However, this does not give the customer access to the capital saved. This is particularly annoying when, for example, the self-employed get into financial difficulties, as happened during the Corona crisis.
However, there is a way that owners of a basic pension can still get their money. In our experience, many insurance companies have not properly informed their customers about the right of withdrawal or have not provided all consumer information.
Check here for free whether you can revoke your basic pension.
In these cases, the insured person can withdraw their consent years after the policy has been taken out. Because of the lack of information, the usual cancellation period has not started, as numerous court decisions show. The revocation then leads to a so-called reversal of the insurance and thus also to the payment of the capital saved.
Judgments confirm the possibility of revocation
For example, the Cologne Regional Court (Az. 12 O 115/21) recently ordered Canada Life Insurance to rescind two unit-linked basic pension insurance policies from 2012. Reason: The cancellation policy did not provide correct information on how to deal with the surplus shares in the event of a cancellation. Canada Life has to pay out an amount of more than 65,000 euros to the customer, who had deposited around 60,000 euros. The insured also benefits from the surpluses generated in the meantime in the fund.
The error, which the Cologne court judged, can be found not only in Canada Life insurance but also in Allianz contracts – in the years 2008 to 2018.
Many insurance companies affected
The Cologne Regional Court (Az. 12 O 190/21) also ordered Generali Deutschland (formerly Aachen Münchener Versicherung) to rescind a basic pension from 2008 called “Pure Pension”. Reason: The cancellation policy is formulated in such a way that it is unclear to the insured when the cancellation period begins. This is a widespread mistake and, according to our knowledge, can also be found in the contracts of the following insurance companies between 2008 and 2012: Allianz, AXA, Basler, Ergo, Württembergische, Stuttgarter and Standard Life. In addition, Heidelberger Leben contracts are often incorrect.
It can therefore be worthwhile for owners of a Rürup pension to have their contract checked for formal errors if they want to get rid of it. A successful revocation can also result in the repayment of acquisition and sales costs that the insurance company would otherwise collect. To find out whether a policy is eligible for cancellation, you should have it checked by a specialist lawyer, for example free of charge and without obligation at the interest group revocation.
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