Czech Pensioners to Get Back Confiscated State Pension Bonuses — But Must Apply Within a Strict Deadline

The Czech Ministry of Finance has changed the rules governing supplementary pension savings, under which roughly 200,000 pensioners previously lost their state contributions when they terminated their savings contracts early. Some of these people will now be able to reclaim the lost money — but only if they submit an application within a strictly limited window, from 1 August 2026 to 1 February 2027.

According to Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (ANO), in 2024 pensioners found themselves facing two unpleasant options: either keep saving without receiving any state contributions, or close their account early and hand back to the state all the bonuses already credited to them. The minister noted that around a hundred clients ended up losing not only the state top-ups but also their own savings that they had paid in.

Under the previous rules governing these supplementary pension savings schemes, anyone who terminated their contract before completing five years of saving was required to return all the state contributions they had received. Those who hadn't even reached the two-year mark lost their own contributed funds as well — that money stayed with the pension funds and, according to the Ministry of Finance, was later redistributed among the fund's other clients once the statute of limitations expired.

The rules have now been eased. If a pension savings contract was concluded before 29 December 2023, and the person has already become eligible for an old-age pension but has not yet closed their savings account, they can now do so without having to meet the previous minimum five-year saving requirement. This applies to roughly 100,000 clients.

Those who already terminated their contracts earlier and were forced to return their state bonuses are now being given a chance to get that money back. To do so, they must submit a written application to the pension company where they held their account most recently. According to the ministry, around 16,000 people fall into this category. They will be able to reclaim not only the state contributions but also their own invested funds — this applies to roughly a hundred pensioners who fell short of the mandatory two-year saving period.

Importantly, the refund is not automatic — citizens must proactively apply to their pension company within the six-month window. After 1 February 2027, the right to reclaim these funds will be lost for good.

The state contributions that pension companies pay out to their clients will subsequently be reimbursed from the state budget. The Ministry of Finance estimates the one-off cost of this measure to the state at around 60 million koruna. "I consider this a sound investment in restoring clients' trust in the state's fairness," Schillerová said, adding that she has written to pension companies asking them to process client applications promptly and without unnecessary delays.

Around Prague, based on reporting by denik.cz