German courts rule disability benefits can be granted without prior medical assessment

The Social Court in Gießen (decision 30 April 2018, file S 18 SO 34/18 ER) held that people with severe disabilities are entitled to basic security benefits (Grundsicherung) without a prior pension‑insurance medical report when they are in the entrance phase or vocational training of a workshop for the disabled. The case involved a 1997‑born man with a 100 % disability rating, a non‑resectable brain tumour, visual impairment and hemiplegia, whose benefits had been withdrawn after the agency claimed no lasting full‑time disability had been proven. The court rejected the administration’s interpretation of § 45 SGB XII, which had been amended on 1 July 2017 to exempt such assessments.

A later ruling by the North Rhine‑Westphalia Social Court (Az. L 8 R 219/24, July 2024) denied an application for Erwerbsminderungsrente because a pain‑medicine report described an aggravation of the claimant’s symptoms, and the court accepted that assessment. The decision highlights the decisive role of consistent medical documentation and the weighting of multiple expert opinions in disability‑benefit procedures. It notes that other courts have reached opposite conclusions, underscoring ongoing legal uncertainty over how medical evidence shapes benefit entitlement.