Home · Care calculators · Care navigator
Berlin care navigator: what do I have to do, when and with whom?
Care insurance fund, welfare office, district authority, care support point — in Berlin it is rarely unclear WHAT is missing, but often WHO is responsible and by WHEN. Choose your situation: you get the responsible office, the right order, your deadline, the document checklist, the official form and, if you want, a calendar reminder.
Free · anonymous · every calculation runs in your browser. 030 64828209 – call now
The navigator is deliberately not an encyclopedia. It answers eight concrete situations — from a care budget that is not enough, through an overdue care level decision, to adapting the flat — always in the same structure: Responsible · Do this now · Deadline · Documents · Official form · Reminder.
Two deadline calculators are built in: the care insurance fund must decide on a care level application within 25 working days — if it misses that deadline, you are owed €70 for every started week, without having to ask. And against every decision an appeal deadline of one month runs from notification; both calculators take weekends and Berlin public holidays into account.
Specifically for Berlin, the navigator links straight to the official bodies: the district authorities' online “Hilfe zur Pflege” application, the directory of approved everyday support services (for the relief amount) and Berlin's 36 care support points offering free advice. Where Sonnenstrahlen can concretely help — for instance with a solid cost breakdown for the welfare office, or questions about the €4,180 home adaptation grant — it says so; and no more than that.
What the navigator can do
- Eight typical situations — from “the care budget is not enough” to “the flat needs adapting”
- Deadline calculators with Berlin public holidays: the fund's 25-working-day deadline (€70 a week if late) and the appeal deadline (one month from notification)
- Direct links to official Berlin applications — including Hilfe zur Pflege online at the district authority
- Official application forms to download: the nationally standard § 37.3 record (in eleven languages), the Berlin social assistance applications and the care forms of AOK Nordost, BARMER, DAK, TK, IKK BB and KNAPPSCHAFT — each straight from the issuer, never as an outdated copy
- An informal application template when your own fund provides no form — it preserves the date of receipt just as well (§ 19 (1) SGB IV)
- Reminders as a calendar file (.ics), generated locally in your browser
- Every rule with its official source and the date of the legal position
How the navigator works
- Choose your situation: Eight cards — for example “applied for a care level, no answer” or “decision received or rejected”.
- Where needed: give a date or your district: Nothing more is required — health data is never asked for.
- Work through the result: Responsible office, next steps in the right order, deadline, document checklist, official form, calendar reminder.
Frequently asked questions about offices and deadlines
Care insurance fund or welfare office — who is responsible for what?
The care insurance fund (attached to your health insurer) pays the benefits of the care insurance system: care allowance, care services, relief amount, respite care, the home adaptation grant. If those benefits and your income are not enough, the welfare office of your district authority steps in with “Hilfe zur Pflege” under SGB XII — means-tested on income and assets.
What is “Hilfe zur Pflege”?
A social benefit under SGB XII for people whose care costs are not covered by care insurance and their own income or assets. In Berlin the responsible body is the social welfare office of your home district; the application for outpatient Hilfe zur Pflege can be made online. A solid cost breakdown from the care service is one of the most important documents — we produce it for you free of charge.
How quickly must the care insurance fund decide on my care level application?
Within 25 working days of the application arriving (§ 18c SGB XI). If the fund exceeds that deadline it must pay — without you applying for it — €70 for every started week of delay. Exceptions apply, among others, for full inpatient care with at least care level 2 or where the fund is not responsible for the delay.
How long do I have to appeal?
One month from notification of the decision (§ 84 SGG). A decision sent by post counts as notified on the fourth day after posting (§ 37 (2) SGB X, since 1 January 2025). If the deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, it moves to the next working day. The appeal can first be lodged informally to preserve the deadline and be reasoned later.
Where do I get free, neutral care advice in Berlin?
At Berlin's care support points (Pflegestützpunkte) — provider-neutral and free of charge, with locations in every district. Central number: 0800 59 500 59 (Mon–Fri 9 am–6 pm). There is a postcode search there to find the nearest advice centre.
Sources & legal position
The Berlin routes and forms come from the Berlin service portal; which everyday services are recognised here is listed by the Berlin Senate Department for Care, and free, provider-neutral advice is available from Berlin's care support points. The two deadline calculators follow § 18c SGB XI for the fund's decision deadline as well as § 84 SGG and § 37 (2) SGB X for the appeal deadline and notification of a decision. Legal position as of August 2026.
From the calculator to real relief
Sonnenstrahlen is a licensed care service with three offices in Berlin. We will work through your care situation concretely and without obligation — at the same rates as in this calculator — and can take over at short notice. Advice in German, English and Russian.
030 64828209 – call now · Request care now · Home