Only those who are compulsory members of the statutory pension insurance scheme are entitled to a Riester allowance. However, an estimated one million family members of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs who work with them mistakenly pay contributions to the statutory pension insurance scheme, even though they are not compulsory members. Experts estimate that five percent of all employment relationships urgently need to be reviewed in this respect. No serious advice Last year, more than two million Riester contracts were sold. In this context, customers were generally not properly advised, for example when concluding contracts via call centres. Only when the benefit case occurs do the authorities check. If the Riester allowances were granted wrongly, the state then reclaims them. In extreme cases, incorrectly submitted applications may even result in penalties for false declarations. Anyone who has concluded a contract for a Riester pension must clarify for themselves whether the contract is valid at all under the above-mentioned conditions. For example, hardly any tax advisor is aware that the social security status of his clients must be checked regularly. Even few insurance agents know that the status can change from year to year. And even if they know, they often don’t care – the main thing is to keep their own coffers in order. Even company audits do not create legal certainty in this respect. According to the current legal situation, the family member concerned bears the cost risk of the reversal. Insurance companies and their intermediaries are liable in the event of incorrect advice, also in the case of Riester contracts. Anyone who is not sure whether they are legally “riestering” should quickly clarify the facts. For this purpose, an _ “Application for Determination of Status under Social Security Law”, form: V 027 to be obtained and submitted to _ Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund, Ruhrstraße 2, 10709 Berlin, telephone: 030-86 51, drv@drv-bund.de Doctor Johannes Fiala, Munich
(Landpost 6/2007, 25)
Courtesy of www.neinhaus-verlag.de.