What does a legal action cost?

For insured persons, benefit recipients and persons with disabilities, the procedure is free of charge under § 183 SGG – no court fees, no advance payment, regardless of the outcome. Also decisive is § 193 Abs. 4 SGG: the expenses of the defendant authority are “not recoverable”, so you do not bear their costs even if you lose. There is therefore no cost risk towards the opposing party – unlike in civil proceedings. All that remains is your own lawyer, if you engage one.

Not before the Sozialgericht and the Landessozialgericht: § 73 Abs. 1 SGG expressly allows you to conduct the legal dispute yourself. Before you look for a lawyer, check subsection 2 – there, trade unions and associations of persons with disabilities are named as authorised representatives for their members. A Sozialverband (social welfare association, e.g. VdK, SoVD) therefore represents you without a lawyer and without Prozesskostenhilfe. There is one exception: before the Bundessozialgericht (Federal Social Court), mandatory representation applies under § 73 Abs. 4 SGG.

What does the Sozialgericht deal with?

Grundsicherungsgeld (formerly Bürgergeld) and social assistance, pensions and reduced earning capacity, Pflegegrad and benefits from the long-term care insurance fund (Pflegekasse), degree of disability, benefits from the Krankenkasse, unemployment benefit as well as statutory accident insurance. As a rule, the preliminary proceedings come before the legal action: under § 78 SGG, a Widerspruch must be lodged first, otherwise the legal action is dismissed as inadmissible.

Sozialgericht procedures

Legal action · Application for interim relief · Prozesskostenhilfe (legal aid for court proceedings)

5 official procedures available

The Sozialgericht (social court) decides disputes arising from the whole of social law: Grundsicherungsgeld (basic income support benefit for jobseekers) (formerly Bürgergeld, the citizen’s benefit) and social assistance, pensions and reduced earning capacity, care grade (Pflegegrad), degree of disability, benefits from the health insurance fund (Krankenkasse), unemployment benefit and accident insurance.

Money matters first, because this is where most proceedings fail before they even begin. Under the Social Courts Act (Sozialgerichtsgesetz, SGG), § 183 SGG makes proceedings free of charge for “insured persons, benefit recipients … persons with disabilities” – without a court fee and without an advance payment, regardless of whether you win or lose.

More important still is the sentence that hardly anyone knows. § 193 Abs. 4 SGG provides that the expenses of the defendant authority are “not recoverable”: if you lose, you do not pay the opposing party. This is the decisive difference from civil proceedings – and it addresses precisely the fear that stops people from pursuing a legitimate entitlement.

You do not need a lawyer: § 73 Abs. 1 SGG allows you to conduct the legal dispute before the Sozialgericht and the Landessozialgericht (Higher Social Court) yourself. And before you look for one, it is worth checking subsection 2 – social associations and trade unions represent their members, without a lawyer and without Prozesskostenhilfe.

Last updated 27 August 2026

Competent authority Sozialgericht at the plaintiff’s place of residence

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Written and reviewed byAndrés Sánchez Botta

Independent information site: We are not the Sozialgericht, not an authority and not a fee-based advice service — we do not submit applications on your behalf. All information comes from official sources and is explained here in simple terms; the competent body is always the one that is binding. All information is provided without guarantee. We are neither lawyers nor tax consultants: we document administrative procedures and check the information against the official source — this is information, not legal or tax advice.

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