This chapter includes all you need to know about invalidity pensions in Greece.

Periods of insurance covered in another Member State of the EU, EEA and Switzerland are counted as insurance periods covered in Greece and must be stated in all applications submitted by you. This also applies to persons falling within the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

In what situation can I claim?

If you have covered the required insurance period and if you have been deemed disabled by the Centre for Certifying Invalidity (KEPA) with a degree of disability of at least 50%, then you are entitled to an invalidity pension.

Furthermore, dependants are entitled to an additional amount per month, on certain conditions.

Please note that pensioners are required to be re-examined by KEPA, unless the duration of their invalidity has been deemed indefinite.

What conditions do I need to meet?

The requirements that need to be met in order to be entitled to this pension differ according to the cause of the disability.

• Invalidity pension due to common disease: in order to gain access to invalidity pensions, you must have accumulated – within the e-EFKA scheme – at least:
  • 4,500 working days during the whole active life is required.
  • Up to the age of 21: 300 days (or 1 year of insurance). This period increases progressively by 120 contribution days per year up to 1,500 days until the age of 31.
  • If none of these conditions are fulfilled, 1,500 working days are required, of which 600 during the 5 years preceding invalidity.
• Invalidity pension due to an accident at work or occupational disease: in order to be entitled to this invalidity pension due to accident at work, you are required to have completed at least one insurance day after registering with the e-National Social Security Fund (e-EFKA), while in case of an occupational disease, certain requirements from the statute of e-EFKA need to be fulfilled as well.
• Invalidity pension due to a non-work-related accident: in order to be entitled to this invalidity pension, you are required to have completed:
  • 2,250 insurance days or
  • 750, of which 300 must be in the 5 years preceding the onset of the disability.
• Old-age pension for disabled persons: apart from the general invalidity pension categories, pensions are also given to persons who are totally blind or who suffer from certain illnesses, regardless of their age.

In order to receive a pension, the persons coming under the special categories must have a degree of disability of over 67% and they must have accumulated 4,050 insurance days (or 15 years).

In order to establish entitlement to a pension, periods during which illness and unemployment benefits were received are also counted as insurance days.

You can convert your invalidity pension into an old-age pension if you meet the insurance and age requirements, namely 4,500 insurance days and 67 years of age.

Pensions paid to persons with a degree of disability of at least 80% are exempt from tax.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Invalidity pension is composed of:

(a) the national pension (ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΣΥΝΤΑΞΗ) which is not financed by contributions, but directly from the State budget. The amount is set to EUR 413.76 per month for at least 20 years of insurance. This amount is reduced by 2% for every year which falls short from 20 to 15 years of insurance (i.e. the amount of national pension for 15 years of insurance is EUR 372.38 per month).

The above amount of the national pension is reduced further according to the degree of disability:

• severe invalidity (ΒΑΡΙΑ ΑΝΑΠΗΡΙΑ: invalidity of more than 80%): full national pension;
• normal invalidity (ΣΥΝΗΘΗΣ ΑΝΑΠΗΡΙΑ: invalidity 67% - 79.99%): 75% of the national pension;
• partial invalidity (ΜΕΡΙΚΗ ΑΝΑΠΗΡΙΑ: invalidity 50% - 66.99%): 50% of the national pension.

(b) the contributory pension (ΑΝΤΑΠΟΔΟΤΙΚΗ ΣΥΝΤΑΞΗ) which is calculated depending

• on the years of insurance taken into account by applying coefficients of replacement per year (ποσοστά αναπλήρωσης) which start from 0.77% for 15 years of insurance and gradually increase to 2.55% for 36-40 years of insurance and falls to 0.5% yearly for more than 40 years; and
• on the average pensionable earnings of the insured from the insurance year 2002 until the day the person applies for pension.

In order to apply for an invalidity pension you can click at: https://www.efka.gov.gr/el/syntaxioychoi/elektronike-aitese-syntaxiodoteses

Jargon busters

• Occupational diseases: diseases included in the national list of occupational diseases, which can be found here.
• Degrees of disability: an insured person is considered to suffer from severe disability if – as a result of damage, disease or physical/mental debilitation occurring or deteriorating after becoming insured – he is unable to earn more than 1/5 of the average earnings of an employee in his field for at least one year. An insured person who is unable to earn more than 1/3 receives 75% of the pension, while a person who is unable to earn more than 1/2 receives 50% of the pension.
• EEA – European Economic Area: participating members include Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, as well as the European Union and its 27 member states.
• KEPA: the Centre for Certifying Invalidity (KEPA) comes under the Invalidity and Occupational Medicine Directorate of the e-EFKA (former IKA-ETAM) administration and is responsible for ensuring uniform health assessment in terms of determining the degree of disability of persons insured with all insurance organisations, including civil servants, and that of uninsured persons, who require certification of their invalidity.

Forms you may need to fill in

• https://www.efka.gov.gr/el/syntaxioychoi/elektronike-aitese-syntaxiodoteses
• https://www.efka.gov.gr/el/menoy/kentro-pistopoieses-anaperias-kepa

Know your rights

Publication and website of the European Commission:

• Retirement abroad: your rights abroad as a citizen of the EU

Who do you need to contact?

e-National Social Security Fund (e-EFKA)

General Directorate for Benefits and Health
28ης Οκτωβρίου 54 (Πατησίων), 54, 28 Octovriou Ave (Patision)

10682 Αθήνα/Athens
ΕΛΛΑΔΑ/GREECE
E-mail:gd.paroxon@efka.gov.gr
http://www.efka.gov.gr/

1555 – Number for Citizens’ communication and service on insurance, labour and social issues

www.1555.gov.gr