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Allowance for a pensioner living alone

The allowance for a pensioner living alone is 200 euros, and we pay it once a year - together with the October pension.

To whom?

We pay allowance to all people of the retirement age  

How do I get it?

The pensioner does not have to apply for the allowance themselves, but we will pay it out after checking the data in the state registers.  We take the data about the person's age and pension amount from the social protection information system. We obtain residence data from the population register.

NB! We do not pay support to a person who, in the period from April 1 to September 30, is in prison or pretrial detention or who has been ordered by the court to undergo compulsory psychiatric treatment, which is applied as inpatient treatment.

We pay the allowance for a pensioner living alone every year together with the October pension, and we check again every year whether the person meets the conditions for receiving the allowance!
In order to receive the allowance, a person must meet the conditions for receiving the allowance during the entire period from April 1 to September 30 of the year of payment of the allowance.

Example 1: Vilma's retirement age arrived on July 15, 2023. She has been registered alone at her place of residence. Since Vilma is not of retirement age as of April 1, 2023, she is not entitled to the allowance of a pensioner living alone this year. If she still lives alone in 2024 and the amount of her pension is less than 1.2 times the average Estonian old-age pension, she will be entitled to the allowance in 2024.

Example 2: Jüri lives alone. In October, she will not receive the allowance of the old-age pensioner living alone. When checking the data, it turns out that her nephew Paul is registered as her residence, but he has not actually been living in her apartment for several years. Jüri corrects the data in the register, and if she still lives alone and the amount of the pension is less than 1.2 times the average Estonian old-age pension, she will be entitled to support next year.

Residents of nursing homes and guardians-wards are also entitled to the allowance of a pensioner living alone.

An old-age pensioner whose available pension is below the average old-age pension can also the allowance support if they:

  • are on a 24-hour care service, i.e., live in a nursing home;
  • are registered in the same dwelling with another person but actually live alone because the other person is in a 24-hour care service, i.e., in a nursing home;
  • are registered in the same dwelling with their guardian or ward (if both the guardian and the ward are of old-age pension age and both of them have an available pension below the average old-age pension, both are entitled to the allowance).
  • live with their dependent child(ren).
    NB! This distinction does not concern the situation where a grandchild is registered with the grandparent but is intended for the situation where the pensioner is raising their own minor or up to a 21-year-old child who is a student.
  • If an old-age pensioner receives a pension from a foreign country in addition to the Estonian pension, the pensioner living alone is entitled to receive the allowance if the amount of the pension received from Estonia and abroad is less than 1.2 times the average Estonian old-age pension.
  • The recipient of a pension from a foreign country must inform us of the amount of their foreign pension as of April 1 in order to receive the allowance for a pensioner living alone for the current year.  
  • In order to report the amount of pension received from a foreign country, please send us a statement of your bank account or another document that proves the amount of the pension received from a foreign country by August 31 at the latest. We are waiting for information by e-mail at [email protected] or by post at Paldiski mnt 80, 15092 Tallinn. NB! It is also possible to submit the proof later, but in this case, it may happen that we pay out the allowance later

We pay support to old-age pensioners living alone, whose monthly available pension is less than 1.2 times the average Estonian old-age pension.

There is no obstacle to determining and paying the allowance:

  • if a person of old-age pension age works and receives a salary in addition to a pension
  • if they receive other social benefits and income.

Earnings from work are not taken into account in order to encourage working at the retirement age, including part-time work.
The allowance of a pensioner living alone is not subject to income tax, and the allowance paid is not included in income when calculating subsistence allowance.

Last updated: 07.02.2024

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