Have you already visited our page on invalidity benefits?
In most cases, the amount of your pension will depend on the degree of invalidity recognised. This decision will be made by the national institutions of each country where you have been insured, according to their own national legislation.
Criteria for assessing invalidity vary from one country to another. Please refer to the situations described in the main section on invalidity benefits to find out which country/ies will pay your invalidity pension.
The country where you claim your pension may take into account the pensions you get from the other country/ies when calculating the amount due. >> Find out about national social security rules
Here is a practical example: You were insured for 20 years in country A, then for five years in B and finally for two years in C. In all three countries, the amount of the invalidity pension depends on the length of the insurance periods covered.
You stop working in C where your degree of invalidity was assessed at 100 %. This entitles you to an invalidity pension from C based on the two years of insurance. You also get an invalidity pension from B where you were insured for five years, but there your degree of invalidity was assessed at 70 %. In A, where you were insured over most of your professional career, you get a pension based on an invalidity of only 30 %.
This depends on the fact that the national social security systems are not harmonised, but only coordinated by the EU provisions, so each country has its own rules. >> Find out about national social security rules
You should claim your invalidity pension in the country where you live, unless you have never been insured there. Otherwise contact the social security institutions of the country where you were last insured. >> Use our directory to find a contact institution
The institution of the country where you claim an invalidity pension will take account of periods of insurance or residence that you have completed under the legislation of any other EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, if this is necessary for your entitlement to the benefit.
When you are entitled to an invalidity pension, it will be paid to you regardless of where you reside or stay in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. >> Find out about sickness benefits
If you are living or staying in one EU country (or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland) but your pension is paid in another, any necessary administrative checks and medical examinations will normally be carried out by the authorities in the country where you are living or staying.
You may, however, be required to return to the country paying your pension for some examinations, if your health allows you to do so.