Do I still have to apply for insolvency benefit as an employee?

Yes.
Insolvency benefit (Insolvenzgeld) is not paid automatically, even if pre-financing has been agreed.

Important points:

• Insolvency benefit is only paid if the employee submits an application to the competent employment agency (Agentur für Arbeit).
• The deadline is usually two months after the insolvency event.
• The formal requirements are manageable, but mistakes can still jeopardise the entitlement.

In practice, employees are therefore often supported, for example by:

• the insolvency administrator or insolvency monitor (Sachwalter)
• management in Eigenverwaltung (debtor-in-possession management under Sections 270 et seq. of the German Insolvency Code)
• the Worstbrock-Group and legal counsel as part of an organised “application campaign” at the company

Typical process from the employees’ point of view:

• Wages for the insolvency benefit period are already paid from the pre-financing of insolvency benefit via the bank.
• The application to the employment agency serves to secure the statutory entitlement and to enable payment to the bank.

Without pre-financing, employees would often have to bridge the processing times of the employment agency. This can take several weeks and in individual cases lead to financial difficulties.