Further information for applicants

Presentation of further evidence and service

It is possible to present new evidence to the Court, either as an appendix to the appeals document or at a later stage. However, it is recommended to present such additional evidence, or at least to give notice about it, as soon as possible after the initiation of proceedings.

The Insurance Court may also procure evidence on its own initiative. Such evidence may be requested from the parties or, for example, from other public authorities. Any evidence presented after the case has been resolved is not taken into account and is returned to the sender.

The parties are informed in writing about additional evidence presented to the Court. They are given an opportunity to study it and to give a written response.

Providing additional evidence by electronic service, e-mail or telefax

The Insurance Court may be contacted and additional evidence concerning a pending case may also be provided by means of electronic service, e-mail ([email protected]) or telefax. When providing evidence by e-mail, it must always be sent to the address [email protected]. The centre will then get confirmation that their email has been received.

The Insurance Court recommends that additional evidence sent by e-mail be contained in the body of the e-mail and not in an attached file. It is not recommended to send evidence as an attachment. The Insurance Court draws applicants attention to security matters in electronic communication. Confidential or other sensitive information should not be sent by e-mail.

Court fees from 1 January 2025

Court fees and application fees are regulated by the Act on Court Fees (1455/2015)
and the Ministry of Justice decree (1122/2021)
Proceedings at the Insurance Court are generally free of charge for private applicants.
Appeal matters from private individuals are handled free of charge if they concern entitlement to benefit, the amount of the benefit or its recovery.
For private individuals, fees are charged for matters that are not of direct interest to them. According to a Government proposal, such matters include, for example, matters concerning the obligation to insure, the basis for the premium, the amount of the premium or its payment. When a private individual appeals in their capacity as an employer, self-employed person, professional or sole trader, this is not a question of a direct benefit so a court fee is charged. The Act on Court Fees, stipulates that the court fee for a private individual before the Insurance Court is EUR 310.
In cases brought by a private individual to have a decision annulled, a court fee of EUR 310 is charged.
The fee will be charged even if the appeal or application for annulment is withdrawn.
However, according to the Act on Court Fees, no court fees are charged by the Insurance Court in situations where
  • the Insurance Court changes the decision subject to appeal in favour of the applicant,
  • the application for annulment is granted,
  • without a decision on the merits, the appeal is referred to a lower authority for consideration,
  • without a decision on the merits, the cases transferred to a competent authority,
  • there is a request for exemption from court fees under the Legal Aid Act, or
  • the handling of the case is free of charge elsewhere in the law.
In individual cases, the Insurance Court may order that no court fee be charged if it would be manifestly unreasonable to do so.
Benefit institutions, such as the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, employment pension institutions, insurance companies and unemployment benefit offices, associations and employers other than private individuals are charged a court fee of EUR 610 for handling appeals and annulments brought by them.


The court fee is invoiced afterwards.

Fees charged by the Insurance Court since 1 January 2025

Fees chargeable for Insurance Court services: Certificates issued by the Insurance Court, such as certificates of lawfulness and lis pendens, are free of charge. A receipt for receiving documents is free of charge No fee is charged for an electronically stored document sent by e-mail that does not require any special measures. There is a charge for documents ordered separately. Fees to be charged for ordering documents are as follows:

1 Extracts and copies (photocopies)

  • An uncertified copy costs EUR 0.70 per A4 page and EUR 1.40 per A3 page. However, in the case of an order submitted by an interested party, the fee may be as much as EUR 106 per document.
  • A certified extract or copy costs EUR 3 per page. However, in the case of an order submitted by an interested party, the fee may be as much as EUR 106 per document.
  • A document order requiring special measures: An extract or copy costs EUR 4,30 per page. However, in the case of an order submitted by an interested party, the fee may be as much as EUR 222 per document.
  • A fee of at least EUR 10 per order is always charged for an extract or copy made to order.

2 Telefaxed documents

Fees are charged as in section 1.

3 Scanned documents

The fees for submitting a document that requires scanning are the same as in section 1.

4 Audio and video tape or other recording

The cost of the audio or video tape or recording plus a delivery fee of EUR 33 per order will be charged. If the delivery of a tape or recording requires more than two hours of work, an additional delivery charge of EUR 28 will be applied for each full hour over two hours, up to a maximum of EUR 673 per order.

Making a payment: Payment is made based on a separate invoice sent once the order has been delivered.

Other fees

In addition to any court fees, the applicant is responsible for the costs of posting the appeal and obtaining any other documents that may be enclosed with it.

The applicant is responsible for the costs of the agent or attorney they use unless they have been granted legal aid.

Oral proceedings may involve costs for the applicant, such as the costs of an agent or attorney, and the costs of any witness and expert appointed by the applicant, unless legal aid has been granted.

Legal aid

An applicant may be granted legal aid for a case to be heard by the Insurance Court, if the applicant's financial situation justifies granting such aid. In that case, the legal costs will be paid from State funds, either in full or in part. A legal aid recipient may also be assigned a legal adviser. You can apply for legal aid from the Legal Aid Office.

Statistics

Personnel:

The Insurance Court employs about 110 people on a full-time basis. The personnel participating in law application consists of about 60 people.

Number of cases in average processing time:

2024
Received 3,171
Resolved 3,437
Pending/31 December 2024 3,266
Average time for hearing a case 12.6 months
Percentage of successful appeals 12.5%
Percentage of approvals and applications for annulment 38.1%

The largest groups of cases are earnings-related pension cases, unemployment benefit cases, health insurance cases and accident and occupational illness cases.

Published 12.3.2020