With judgment no. 22802 of August 7, 2025, the Italian Supreme Court ruled on the criteria for the commencement of limitation periods for requests to establish a life annuity under Article 13, paragraphs 1 and 5, of Law no. 1338/1962, revising its previous interpretation on the matter.
Following this ruling by the Joint Sections, INPS issued Circular no. 141 on November 12, 2025, providing clarifications on the content of the judgment and fully replacing Circular no. 48 of February 24, 2025. The latter had been published shortly after the entry into force of Law no. 203/2024 (the so-called “Labour-Related Act”), which introduced, through Article 30, paragraph 7 of Article 13, the employee’s right to establish a life annuity entirely at their own expense.
The Life Annuity Mechanism
Pension contributions accrued during employment but not paid by the employer due to contribution omissions are generally recognized by INPS upon the employee’s report, applying the principle of “automatic entitlement to benefits,” regardless of whether the amounts due are recovered from the employer, provided the contributions have not become time-barred.
To obtain crediting by INPS, the employee must submit a specific application certifying the existence of the employment relationship, the period of omitted contributions, and the wages received.
Once the limitation period for reporting contribution omissions has expired, the employee can no longer have the contributions recognized except by resorting to the life annuity mechanism.
Under Article 13 of Law no. 1338/1962, the establishment of a life annuity allows employees, in cases of missed contribution payments by their employer not attributable to the employee’s fault, to redeem periods of unpaid contributions that have become time-barred.
Once established, the life annuity enables the reinstatement of omitted contributions through payment to INPS of an amount sufficient to guarantee a pension benefit equivalent to what the employee would have received had the contributions been duly paid. The cost of such redemption is determined based on the so-called “mathematical reserve,” calculated according to tariffs set by ministerial decree after consultation with INPS’s Board of Directors. In this case as well, proof of the uncovered employment period and related wages is required.
The life annuity may be established upon request by the employer responsible for the omission or by the employee. Once the employee has submitted and obtained the redemption, they may claim damages from the employer under Article 2116 of the Civil Code, subject to the limitation periods set forth in paragraphs 1 and 5 of Article 13, analyzed below.
INPS Circular Guidelines
Circular no. 141 of November 12, 2025, outlines the system for calculating limitation periods for the right to request the establishment of a life annuity, as defined by the Supreme Court in judgment no. 22802, considering the provisions of Article 13 of Law no. 1338/1962, as follows:
- From the date the omitted mandatory contributions become time-barred, a ten-year period begins within which the employer may request the establishment of a life annuity on behalf of the employee (Article 13, paragraph 1);
- After this period, the employee may exercise the right granted by law to personally request the life annuity, with entitlement to compensation for damages suffered, within a further ten-year period (Article 13, paragraph 5);
- Once this second period has elapsed, the employee retains the option to establish the life annuity entirely at their own expense, under paragraph 7 of Article 13, introduced by Article 30 of Law no. 203/2024.
Thus, starting from the date the right to request the life annuity begins—i.e., the date the omitted mandatory contributions become time-barred—the Supreme Court has defined a sequential mechanism whereby, once the employer’s right to establish the annuity expires, the employee’s right to request it and claim damages arises. After this right also expires, the employee may still proceed with the request at their own expense. In the absence of specific provisions by the Joint Sections, this last option is considered imprescriptible.
Therefore, once both (i) the employer’s right to establish the life annuity and (ii) the employee’s right to substitute the employer have expired, the employee may rely on paragraph 7 of Article 13 of Law no. 1338/1962. This option is exclusive, not substitutive of the employer, and entails full cost borne by the employee, without any time limit.
Operational Guidelines for INPS Offices
When reviewing applications for the establishment of a life annuity, local INPS offices must verify the date the omitted mandatory contributions became time-barred, considering any legislative provisions that introduced extensions, suspensions, or interruptions of limitation periods.
For applications submitted by the employer, the request will be accepted only if no more than ten years have elapsed between the prescription of contributions and the submission of the application; otherwise, it must be rejected.
For applications submitted by the employee as a substitute, INPS will verify whether, at the date of the application, the employer’s right to request the life annuity has actually expired. If the limitation period has not yet expired, the employee’s application may be accepted only in the event of proven impossibility to obtain the annuity from the employer. Conversely, if the employer’s right has expired, the employee’s application will fall under paragraph 5 of Article 13 without further evidentiary burden.
Consequences and Procedural Requirements
Based on the foregoing, during the initial limitation period referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 13, the employee may substitute the employer by paying the required mathematical reserve, provided they can demonstrate the impossibility of obtaining the establishment of the life annuity from the employer. In such cases—unless a statement from the employer is already on file—the application must be supplemented with documented prior correspondence, including:
i) a detailed and reasoned notice to the employer requesting the establishment of the life annuity and stating the employee’s intention to proceed on a substitute basis; and
ii) the employer’s detailed and reasoned response.
If the latter is missing, the competent INPS territorial office must formally notify the employer of the submission of the application under paragraph 5 of Article 13 and obtain their official position. The employee is authorized to act in substitution only if the employer declares unwillingness to comply or is unreachable or unresponsive.
Conversely, in cases where the application is submitted after the employer’s right has expired, impossibility is presumed automatically, and no prior correspondence or supporting documentation is required from the employee. The same applies to applications submitted under paragraph 7 of Article 13, which allow the employee to establish the annuity at their own expense without additional evidentiary requirements, other than proof of the employment period and wages received.
Application of INPS Circular Provisions
In conclusion, INPS specifies that the provisions of Circular no. 141 apply not only to applications for the establishment of a life annuity and related appeals submitted from the date of its publication onward, but also to all applications and appeals filed prior to that date, pending and not yet finalized.