24 months of service after disability pension assignment grant the right to recalculation based on new indicators: Supreme Court

For many pensioners, the transition from a disability pension to an old-age pension directly affects the amount of future payments. That is why disputes about which average wage indicator should be used during such a transfer regularly become the subject of court proceedings.

In the ruling dated May 26, 2026, in case No. 520/33989/24, the Supreme Court in the composition of the Cassation Administrative Court considered the issue of the right of a person who had long received a disability pension and continued to work to calculate the old-age pension using the average wage indicator for the three calendar years preceding the application for its assignment.

The practice of the Supreme Court in this category of cases is important both for pensioners and for the Pension Fund authorities.

Case circumstances

The plaintiff had been receiving a disability pension since August 17, 2006, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Compulsory State Pension Insurance" and continued to work.

In February 2024, she applied to the Pension Fund with a request to transfer from a disability pension to an old-age pension. Initially, she was refused due to insufficient insurance service.

In May 2024, the Pension Fund recalculated the disability pension due to additionally acquired insurance service, after which the plaintiff's insurance service exceeded 30 years. Subsequently, she was transferred to an old-age pension, but the calculation applied the average wage indicator used earlier when the pension was assigned, not the indicator for 2021–2023.

In October 2024, the plaintiff applied for a recalculation of the old-age pension using the average wage indicator for 2021–2023. The Pension Fund refused, citing that after the last pension recalculation she had not yet acquired 24 months of insurance service.

Disagreeing with this refusal, the plaintiff went to court.

Supreme Court's position

The Supreme Court explained that if a person has already been assigned a disability pension but continued to work and acquired at least 2 years (24 months) of insurance service thereafter, then during the first transfer to an old-age pension, their pension is calculated not by the old indicators but using the current average salary in Ukraine, which is used for pension assignment.

The court noted that according to the general rule defined by part three of article 45 of Law No. 1058-IV, the average wage indicator when transferring from one type of pension assigned under Law No. 1058-IV to another type of pension should remain unchanged, i.e., as it was at the time of pension assignment.

Also, the third paragraph of part three of article 45 of Law No. 1058-IV establishes an exception to this rule, according to which if a person after being assigned a disability pension continued to work and acquired at least 24 months of insurance service, then at the first transfer to an old-age pension, the average wage (income) is determined according to the rules provided by part two of article 40 of this Law, i.e., taking into account the average wage (income) indicator in Ukraine for the three calendar years preceding the application for the old-age pension assignment.

The court emphasized that part three of article 45 of Law No. 1058-IV defines three mandatory conditions, the simultaneous fulfillment of which allows applying the average wage indicator in Ukraine for the three calendar years preceding the application for transfer to an old-age pension when transferring from a disability pension to an old-age pension, namely:

1) the person continued to work after being assigned a disability pension;

2) the person acquired at least 24 months of insurance service after the pension assignment;

3) the transfer from a disability pension to an old-age pension is carried out for the first time.

The Supreme Court paid special attention to the Pension Fund's obligations to inform applicants.

The court stated that it is the Pension Fund and its territorial bodies that must ensure conditions under which a person is informed about the conditions of assigning different pensions and can make an informed choice.

At the same time, the employee of the service center of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine should have explained to the plaintiff the possibility of transferring her to an old-age pension under Law No. 1058-IV before recalculating the disability pension considering the additionally acquired insurance service.

The Supreme Court also stressed that the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine had the opportunity to take into account the additionally acquired insurance service of the plaintiff during the direct transfer from the disability pension to the old-age pension, instead of previously recalculating the disability pension due to the acquired service.

This approach would correspond to the purpose of pension legislation to ensure the realization of the person's right to the most favorable type of pension provision, since only that pension recalculation (transfer from one type of pension to another) made on the most favorable conditions for the person can be considered lawful and justified.

Summarizing, the court noted that the woman continued to work after being assigned a disability pension and worked at least 2 years with contributions paid. Therefore, when she first transitions from a disability pension to an old-age pension, her pension should be calculated based on more recent data — namely, the average salary in the country for the last 3 years before the application (in her case, 2021–2023).

The Supreme Court satisfied the cassation appeal, canceled the decisions of the lower courts, and obliged the Pension Fund to recalculate and pay the plaintiff an old-age pension using the average wage indicator for 2021–2023.

This position is important for persons who first transition from a disability pension to an old-age pension after acquiring at least 24 months of insurance service, as it confirms the possibility of applying the current average wage indicator for pension calculation.

Additionally, read in the materials of the "Judicial-Legal Newspaper" about how to retire at old age if one year of insurance service is missing insurance service, as well as which pension supplements Ukrainians can apply for and under what conditions they are assigned.

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