Appealing to the Insurance Court

If you are dissatisfied with the decision of the Pension Appeal Board, you may seek to have it rectified by appealing to the Insurance Court in writing within a period of thirty (30) days.

Please deliver your appeal to your pension provider so that it may rectify its decision in accordance with your requirements.

How to appeal

The appeal must be made in writing. In your appeal, please state the following:

• that your appeal is intended as an appeal to the Insurance Court;
• the decision which you seek to have rectified;
• which sections of the decision you seek to have rectified, and what amendments you require to be made to the decision;
• the basis for your argument to rectify the decision;
• your name and contact information;
• the name of the deceased if your appeal concerns a survivors’ pension;
• the contact information of any legal representative or proxy who has the right to be heard on your behalf; and
• the postal address and possible other address to which the documents relating to the legal proceedings can be sent.

Please attach to your appeal also the following:

• the decision, including the right of appeal, of the Pension Appeal Board (or a copy of the documents),
• a statement on when you were informed of the decision,
• the documents that you plead to in order to support your requirement, unless they have already been submitted.
• You may also submit further evidence at a later stage.

While your appeal is pending, you must report changes to contact information to the Insurance Court without delay.

You can submit your appeal to the pension provider in person, by courier or by post (at your own risk), or by e-mail. The appeal must arrive by the end of the appeal period.

Appeal period

The appeal must have arrived at the recipient no later than by the thirtieth (30th) day from the date on which you were notified of the decision. You are considered to have been notified of the decision by the seventh (7th) day from the date on which the decision was mailed from the Pension Appeal Board to the address you have provided, unless you state otherwise in connection with your appeal.

Transferring your appeal to the Insurance Court

If the pension provider does not rectify the decision that you have appealed (in accordance with your requirements) and issue a new decision, it will forward your appeal to the Insurance Court for deliberation. You will be notified of the transfer.

Legal expenses of the Insurance Court

The legal expenses are stipulated in the Act on Legal Expenses (1455/2015).

As a rule, the handling of appeals by the Insurance Court is free of charge to the applicant. Appeals made by a private person are handled free of charge if the matter concerns the right to a benefit, the benefit amount or a claim for recovery of the benefit. If the matter does not concern the immediate benefit of a private person, the handling is subject to a charge.

The Act on Legal Expenses stipulates that the legal expense for a private person charged by the Insurance Court is 270 euros. However, the fee is not charged in situations where the Insurance Court rectifies the appealed decision in favour of the applicant.

Earnings-related pension providers, corporations and other employers than private persons are charged a fee of 530 euros for the handling of an appeal they have instigated.

The legal expense is charged even if the matter is dismissed.

For more information on legal expenses of the Insurance Court, go to www.vakuutusoikeus.fi (https://www.vakuutusoikeus.fi/en/index.html)