Organisation

On 1 October 2005, all the pension insurance underwriters - the Federal Insurance Institution for Salaried Employees (BfA - Bundesversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte), the 22 Regional Insurance Offices (LVA - Landesversicherungsanstalten), the Federal Miners' Insurance Institution, the Railways Insurance Office and the Mariners' Insurance Fund - as well as the Federation of German Pension Insurance Institutes (VDR - Verband Deutscher Rentenversicherungsträger) came together under one roof. They now go under the title of "German Pension Insurance".

At the Federal level, there were two amalgamations: one between the Federation of German Pension Insurance Institutes and the Federal Insurance Institution for Salaried Employees, the other between the Federal Miners' Insurance Institution and the Railways Insurance Office and the Mariners' Insurance Fund. At the same time, some Regional Insurance Institutions merged into larger regional underwriting bodies. Further mergers at regional level are being considered.

Inside organisation: self-administration

The "inside organisation" of the pension insurance funds is basically characterised by the principle of self-administration - the main feature of all social insurance funds. This entails that

  • the pension insurance funds are corporations under public law,
  • the insured persons and employers are organised in democratically elected bodies on the basis of equal participation,
  • the legally mandated tasks are carried out under the funds' own authority (legal autonomy), and
  • the funds are financially autonomous, meaning that they are financially independent of the state budget.

For the pension insurance funds, self-administration means in concrete terms that the insured persons and employers share responsibility for carrying out the required tasks and for administering the pension funds.
The legal basis for pension insurance is Book VI of the German Social Code (SGB VI).