Temporary disability pension by settlement at the social court for agoraphobia

Here I report on legal proceedings that led to a client at the Social Court of Hanover for enforcing a disability pension. The reason for the demand for a disability pension was a strong agoraphobia with panic disorder and a moderate depressive episode. An expert report commissioned by the social court did not exactly support the client’s pension entitlement. But read for yourself.

What is agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is the fear of public places and crowds. Those affected are extremely afraid of leaving the house. For the plaintiff, the agoraphobia meant that, on the one hand, she could no longer shop at the supermarket near her place of residence and, on the other hand, she could no longer use public transport and could not drive 500 m by car. In conjunction with the mid-straightening depression, we asserted that the plaintiff could no longer work 3 hours a day.

When is a reduced earning capacity in terms of pension law?

In order to be able to classify these consequences of illness under pension law, one must know under which conditions one can receive a pension for reduced earning capacity.

According to § 43 SGB VI, a full reduction in earning capacity is a person who can only work less than 3 hours a day on the general labor market due to illness or disability, whereas a partial reduction in earning capacity exists if the person concerned is more than 3 hours due to illness or disability can work less than 6 hours a day.

In addition – and this does not result directly from the law – the person with a so-called incapacity to travel is also disabled. Unable to travel are people who cannot get to a job because they are unable to get to a suitable job. This is answered in the affirmative for people who cannot cover a distance of 4 × 500 m daily in a reasonable time frame of less than 20 minutes.

What did the expert report reveal?

The social court obtained an expert opinion as part of the legal proceedings. The expert examined the plaintiff. His result was that the plaintiff was fully disabled again and was partially disabled. He estimated the remaining capacity of the applicant to be such that she could normally work more than 6 hours a day. The report had one crucial flaw. It did not check the plaintiff’s ability or inability to travel, but merely determined that the plaintiff had a driver’s license.

How did the social court react?

The social court sent the expert’s report and at the same time asked whether the now hopeless lawsuit should be withdrawn. We denied this and stated, for reasons of reason, that the plaintiff’s inability to travel was not examined in the report, although it was already expressly addressed in the application, both with regard to cars, public transport and walking. After the court announced that it would not obtain a new opinion, we complained about a breach of official investigative obligations and asked for the matter to be resolved without an oral hearing in order to have a quick first-instance end and to pursue the plaintiff’s rights in the appeal proceedings. Now the court has set a date for the hearing. The plaintiff was questioned in detail at this meeting. The court came to the conclusion that according to the plaintiff’s credible and comprehensible information, her ability to travel is obviously severely restricted. She cannot get to work either by public transport or by car. The court has therefore proposed that the proceedings be ended by granting a temporary disability pension for a period of two years. This proposed settlement was accepted by the defendant and the plaintiff. The case shows that it is worthwhile to thoroughly examine the expert reports obtained in the pension procedure.

Lawyer requires a rejection notice, an objection notice and a power of attorney

Are you also currently in the fight with your pension insurance provider because of disability pension? Are you faced with the question of whether you should file a lawsuit with the social court? As an attorney in pension law, we are at your side in enforcing disability pensions. We help you nationwide and if you want to entrust us with your lawsuit at the social court, then we need the following documents from you:

• Notification of the rejection or partial rejection of the disability pension

• their contradiction against it

• Notice of objection from the pension fund

• Power of Attorney

• Medical certificates, if available

• Your legal protection insurance data

Legal proceedings at the social court regarding disability pensions are very easy to operate digitally. You are welcome to send your documents as PDF by email and thus initiate our work. You can further promote your procedure by providing useful certificates from their doctors. Such certificates deal with your diagnosis and show the effects of the diagnosis on your residual performance and also specify the duration of the effects.

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