⚖️ Degree of disability: assessment and objection
In brief
The degree of disability (GdB) describes, in steps of ten from 20 to 100, how severely a person's participation is restricted by health impairments – regardless of the specific diagnosis, but according to the actual effects in everyday life. The basis is the Versorgungsmedizin-Verordnung (VersMedV) with its Versorgungsmedizinische Grundsätze, which set GdB ranges for a great many conditions.
If you disagree with the GdB determined, you can lodge a written objection (Widerspruch) with the Versorgungsamt within one month of delivery. If your health later deteriorates significantly, a new application for reassessment is possible at any time, independently of this.
Step by step
- Read the decision carefullyCheck which individual GdB values were set for which functional impairments and how the overall GdB was formed.
- Add medical documentsIf current findings on individual conditions are missing, submit them later – an incomplete file is often the reason for a lower GdB.
- Lodge the objection on timeA short, informal objection within the one-month deadline is enough at first; the reasons can be submitted later.
- Wait for the objection decisionThe office reviews the case again, if necessary with further expert reports. If it stays with the rejection, an objection decision (Widerspruchsbescheid) with instructions on legal remedies is issued.
- Action before the social courtYou can sue against the objection decision; proceedings before the social court are free of court costs for you.
Deadlines
- An objection without any reasons only secures the deadline at first – submit the medical reasons as soon as possible, otherwise the procedure drags on unnecessarily.
- An application for reassessment can also lead to a reduction of the GdB if your condition has actually improved – only apply if there has been a deterioration, not "just to be safe".
- For mental and chronic illnesses the GdB is often underestimated if the documents do not describe the effects in everyday life (e.g. resilience, sick days) concretely enough.
- Court expert reports often take several months – if you urgently depend on compensation for disadvantages in the meantime, you should check in parallel whether a provisional ID or other interim solutions are possible.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Basis of assessment
The legal basis for determining the GdB is § 152 SGB IX in conjunction with the Versorgungsmedizin-Verordnung (VersMedV). Its annex "Versorgungsmedizinische Grundsätze" contains GdB tables with ranges for most clinical pictures, to be applied in the individual case according to the extent of the functional restriction. What matters is not diagnoses as such but their actual effect on participation.
Overall GdB and mutual reinforcement
Where there are several impairments, the impairment with the highest individual GdB is first taken as the starting value. Further impairments raise the overall GdB only to the extent that they actually increase the extent of the disability; a schematic addition is impermissible (Part A No. 3 of the VersMedV annex).
Legal remedies
An objection under § 84 SGG is admissible against the notice of assessment, and an action before the locally competent social court against the objection decision (§ 87 SGG). Social court proceedings are in principle free of court costs for insured persons and applicants in the first and second instance (§ 183 SGG); the court investigates the facts of its own motion and obtains its own expert opinions where necessary.
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