You hope it will not happen to you or course, but anyone can become incapacitated for work, for instance due to a disease, an accident or an operation gone wrong. But how exactly would that affect your pension? Read on for more details.
If you were to fall ill while accruing pension via your employer, your pension will continue to accrue as usual for the first two years. If you have not recovered after two years, you can be declared fully or partially incapacitated for work.
Change in pension accrual after two years
After two years, the Employee Insurance Administration Agency (UWV) will decide whether you are fit to return to work and, if so, to what extent. Based on its assessment, UWV will determine whether you qualify for benefits. UWV will automatically notify us of you having been declared incapacitated for work. To protect your privacy, we will not be informed of the reason for your disability.
If you have been declared incapacitated for work and your employer has taken out a pension scheme with a.s.r., you will most likely continue to accrue pension as usual. Check your pension scheme rules (Dutch only) to verify whether this is the case and how much pension you will continue to accrue.
Some employers arrange for a supplementary disability pension for their employees. This is a monthly amount that will be paid to you instead of your salary. Your pension scheme rules will tell you whether you are entitled to such a benefit. If you are, your benefit statement will specify which amount you are entitled to. Please remember: if you are partially incapacitated for work, you will only receive part of that amount.
Tip: tax allowances
If you are incapacitated for work, your income will probably be lower or perhaps much lower than when you were in work. That is why we recommend that you enquire with the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Dutch only) whether you qualify for a tax allowance, such as a rent allowance or a healthcare allowance.
Please do not hesitate to contact us. We are available by telephone on business days from 8.30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on +31 (0)30 257 42 66. Alternatively, you can complete the contact form. We are here to help.
You can find more information on the website of the Rijksoverheid Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid (Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment) - Dutch only and of the UWV (Dutch only)