Objecting to and Appealing National Insurance Decisions: Routes and Deadlines
A National Insurance decision is not the end of the road, but the road away from it is measured in days. A medical committee decision is contested within 60 days, a claims officer decision goes to the labour court within 12 months, and disabled child or special services decisions are contested within 90 days. Whoever identifies the type of decision in time keeps every route open.
“Most appeals that fail did not fail on the argument. They failed on the date, or because they were filed with the wrong body.”
Adv. Yissachar Leibowitz · Head of the Social Security Department
Two kinds of decision, two different routes
Every decision of the National Insurance Institute belongs to one of two families, and the difference between them determines the route, the deadline and the body to approach.
The first family is medical decisions: the medical disability percentage, the degree of incapacity to earn, the level of dependence in a disabled child or special services claim. These are contested by an objection to an appeals committee inside the Institute, and only afterwards, on a point of law alone, by an appeal to the labour court.
The second family is claims officer decisions: residency, periods of employment, income, age, the date entitlement begins. There is no medical appeals committee for these. The route is a request for re-examination by a claims committee, or a direct claim in the regional labour court.
The most common mistake is sending a medical objection to a body that deals only with administrative decisions, or waiting for the claims committee while the court deadline runs out. The decision letter itself states which kind of decision it is, and that is where one starts.
Objecting to a medical committee: 60 days, and not for everyone
A claimant whose medical disability percentage is insufficient may object before the medical appeals committee. Section 122 of the National Insurance Law establishes the right, and the regulations set the deadline.
“A person who considers himself aggrieved by a decision of a physician or of a medical committee may, under the conditions prescribed, object to it before the medical appeals committee.”
Section 122, National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995 (free translation)
In general disability, the objection is available to anyone assessed at less than 80% medical disability, and it is filed in writing, with reasons, within 60 days of receiving the notice. The appeals committee may confirm the percentage, raise it, and also lower it.
In work injury the deadline is shorter: 30 days from receiving the first-instance committee decision, and the reasons may be completed later.
The point many miss: the Institute itself may also object to a medical committee decision. A claimant’s objection reopens the whole determination, so it needs to be grounded, not automatic.
Objecting to the degree of incapacity
In general disability the medical percentage is only the first half. The second half is the degree of incapacity to earn, which the claims officer determines after consulting an authorised physician and a rehabilitation officer. The possible degrees are 60%, 65%, 74% or 100%, and the pension follows directly from them.
A claimant assessed at a degree not exceeding 74% may object before an appeals committee within 60 days of receiving the notice. The committee examines actual earning capacity: education, work history, age, and the way the impairment limits particular work rather than work in general.
Here, more than at any other stage, the employment record decides: dismissal or reduced-hours letters, occupational physician certificates, and an accurate description of the tasks that are no longer possible. An objection that relies on the medical file alone, without the occupational side, leaves the committee with nothing to decide on.
Claims officer decisions: the claims committee and the court
When a claim is rejected on non-medical grounds, such as income, residency, age or period of employment, two routes exist, and they can be pursued in parallel.
The first is the claims committee: a committee of public representatives appointed by the Institute’s council, which sits at the main branches and re-examines the decision. The request is filed on a dedicated form within 6 months of receiving the decision. Its status matters: the committee’s decision is a recommendation only, and the final decision remains with the claims officer.
The second is a claim in the regional labour court, within 12 months of receiving the notice. The claims committee does not deal with medical committee decisions, with the degree of incapacity or with decisions based on medical advice; those go through the objection route.
The rule that must be remembered: approaching the claims committee does not stop the clock on the 12 months for the court. Whoever waits for the recommendation and finds the deadline has passed is left without a remedy.
Appeal to the labour court: on a point of law only
A decision of the medical appeals committee may be appealed to the regional labour court within 60 days, but only on a point of law. The court is not a physician and does not set disability percentages; it examines whether the committee acted lawfully.
“A decision of the medical appeals committee may be appealed, on a point of law only, before a regional labour court; the judgment of the court may be appealed before the National Labour Court if leave has been granted.”
Section 123, National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995 (free translation)
What is a point of law in this context? A committee that did not reason its decision, that ignored a medical opinion placed before it without explaining why, that did not examine a complaint recorded in the protocol, that departed from the correct impairment item in the regulations, or whose composition did not match the impairment under discussion. In all of these the court tends to return the matter to the committee, sometimes in a different composition, with instructions.
This is why the protocol is the central evidence. What is not recorded in it barely exists at the appeal stage, and that is why preparation for the committee begins long before anyone speaks of an appeal.
Deadlines by type of benefit
The deadlines are not uniform, and the differences between them are where files fall. The list gathers the deadlines as published by the National Insurance Institute.
- General disability, medical percentage: objection within 60 days (for those assessed below 80%).
- General disability, degree of incapacity: objection within 60 days (for a degree not exceeding 74%).
- Work injury, first-instance committee: objection within 30 days.
- Disabled child: reasoned objection within 90 days.
- Special services: reasoned objection within 90 days.
- Mobility, Ministry of Health committee: objection within 60 days.
- Claims officer decision: claims committee within 6 months; labour court within 12 months.
- Appeals committee, all routes: appeal to the labour court within 60 days, on a point of law.
Deadlines run from the day the written notice is received, so it is worth keeping the envelope or the delivery record. Lateness is not always final: a reasoned request for an extension may be filed, but there is no guarantee it will be granted, and the burden of explaining the delay lies with the applicant.
How to build an objection that can stand
A good objection is not a letter that says “I disagree”. It is a document that shows the appeals committee exactly where the previous committee went wrong, and attaches what it was missing.
Four components recur in objections that succeed. The first is the protocol: read line by line, marking every complaint that was not examined and every finding that received no impairment item. The second is the impairment item: the regulations assign each medical condition a section and a percentage, and sometimes the committee chose an item that does not fit or a grade lower than the findings justify.
The third is new documentation: tests performed after the committee, an updated clinic summary and, in suitable cases, an opinion from a private specialist in the field of the impairment. The fourth is the functional side: exactly what cannot be done, for how long, and what that means for work and daily life.
Whoever arrives at the appeals committee with these four components in order does not only improve the chances of the objection. They also lay, in advance, the foundation for a court appeal if one is needed.
Costs and legal aid
Two facts change the calculation. The first: legal fees in claims against the National Insurance Institute are capped by law. The file-opening fee is limited to ILS 961 (as of 1 January 2026), and the fee itself is a percentage of the benefit set by claim type, payable only once the benefit begins to be paid. The law sets a ceiling, not a price.
The second: in proceedings against the Institute in the labour court, the claimant is entitled to legal aid from the Legal Aid Department of the Ministry of Justice, with no means test. It is a right, and worth knowing about.
The difference between the routes is not only financial. A court appeal is the last hurdle, and it is built on what was done, or not done, in the committees. Representation that begins at the first committee sometimes saves the need for an appeal altogether.
In summary
In summary, a National Insurance decision can be reopened through two separate routes: an objection to medical decisions within 60 days (30 in work injury, 90 in disabled child and special services), and a challenge to claims officer decisions before the claims committee within 6 months or the labour court within 12 months. An appeals committee decision is appealed to the court on a point of law only, within 60 days. The claims committee does not stop the clock.
The complexity lies not in the words but in the overlap: the same rejection letter can contain a medical decision and an administrative decision together, each with its own deadline and its own body, and the protocol of the first committee becomes the central evidence two years later. That is why a lawyer who knows both routes starts from the letter, not from the objection.
If you have received a decision you do not agree with, contact us with the decision letter and the protocol. We will identify the type of decision, check which deadlines are still open, and tell you frankly whether there is a basis to object and through which route.
What comes up most about objections and appeals
How long do I have to object to a medical committee decision?
In general disability, 60 days from receiving the notice, both on the medical percentage and on the degree of incapacity. In work injury, 30 days. In disabled child and special services, 90 days. In mobility, against the Ministry of Health committee, 60 days. The deadline runs from the day the letter is received.
I approached the claims committee. Does that extend the court deadline?
No. The claims committee is a re-examination route whose decision is a recommendation only, and approaching it does not extend the 12 months for filing a claim in the regional labour court. Both proceedings can be run in parallel.
Can I appeal to the court on the disability percentage itself?
Not directly. A medical appeals committee decision is appealed to the court on a point of law only: a procedural defect, lack of reasoning, disregard of a medical opinion, departure from the impairment item. The court does not set percentages, but it returns the matter to the committee with instructions.
Can the National Insurance Institute object to the committee as well?
Yes. The right to object to a medical committee decision is also granted to the Institute. A claimant’s objection therefore reopens the whole determination, and it needs to rest on findings rather than on a feeling alone.
What happens to payment while the objection is pending?
The decision under objection stands until a new decision is made. Someone approved for a partial pension continues to receive it, and if the objection succeeds, the differences are paid according to the new decision and the retroactivity rules of that benefit.
How much does an objection or appeal cost?
In claims on the statutory list, fees are capped: a file-opening fee of up to ILS 961, and a percentage of the benefit paid only once it begins. In the labour court, in proceedings against the Institute, there is also entitlement to state legal aid with no means test.
I missed the deadline. Is it over?
Not necessarily, but the burden shifts to you. A reasoned request for an extension may be filed and, in suitable cases, a new claim or a request for re-examination. In any event, the earlier the approach, the more routes remain open.
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Send us the decision letter and the protocol. We will identify the type of decision, check which deadlines are open and tell you whether there is a basis to object.