Disability pensions

The right to a pension begins at the earliest when the insured person has had an average incapacity to work of at least 40% for a year without significant interruption and at the end of this period still has an earning incapacity of the same degree.

The disability pension may be allocated from the age of 18 at the earliest.

To preserve full rights to DI benefits, we recommend that you file your claim within 6 months of having stopped working.

On 1st January 2022, the « Continued development of the DI » revision introduced a new linear pension system, which applies to all disability pensions for which the entitlement arises after 31^st December 2021.

This system provides for pensions to be fixed as a percentage of a full pension, which is determined according to the degree of disability.

For a disability rate of 70% or more, the insured person is entitled to a full pension.
For a disability rate of 50 to 69%, the pension percentage corresponds to the disability rate.
A disability rate of 40% entitles the insured person to 25% of a full pension. For a disability rate between 40 and 49%, the pension percentage increases progressively by 2.5 percentage point for each disability percentage point.

The disability pensions calculated under the old system will however continue to be paid in parallel with the new pensions.

The old system of DI pensions provides for 4 levels determined by the disability rate:

Full pensions when the insured person has a disability rate of at least 70 per cent;
Three-quarter pensions when the insured person has a disability rate of at least 60 per cent;
Half pensions when the insured person has a disability rate of at least 50 per cent;
Quarter pensions when the insured person has a disability rate of at least 40 per cent.

In some cases, current pensions granted under the old legislation will be transferred to the new system. This change will take place if, at the time of a revision, the degree of disability changes by at least 5 points and this does not lead to a pension reduction should the degree of disability increase, or vice versa.

However, the pensions of insured persons who had already reached the age of 55 when the change in legislation came into force will not be transferred to the new system (acquired rights guarantee).

Insured persons who had not yet reached the age of 30 when the change in legislation came into force are an exception. Their pensions will be transferred to the linear system within the next ten years (as of 1^st January 2032) provided they have not already been adjusted as part of an ordinary revision. Should this change lead to a decrease in the pension amount, the old amount will continue to be paid.

Pensions corresponding to a degree lower than 50% are only paid to insured persons who have their usual domicile and residence in Switzerland. They are also granted to Swiss, EU respectively EFTA citizens who have their usual domicile and residence in one of the EU respectively EFTA Members States.

The degree of disability of the benefits granted is evaluated according to Swiss legal provisions in force and is in no way linked to the decisions of the social security office of the insured person’s country of origin or residence.