The Entlastungsbetrag (monthly relief amount) is a fixed budget of 131 Euro a month for help in everyday life – for example for an everyday companion, a supervision group or support in the household. It is available from Pflegegrad (care grade) 1 onwards, in addition to all other benefits. The money is not paid out in cash: you submit invoices and are reimbursed.

Details

The Entlastungsbetrag under § 45b SGB XI is the most easily accessible benefit of the Pflegeversicherung (long-term care insurance) – and at the same time the least used. The Landespflegeplan Berlin 2025 puts the take-up rate at only around 64 Prozent of those entitled. In effect, roughly one in three people entitled to it leaves up to 1.572 Euro a year unclaimed. That is almost never because there is no need, but because people do not know how to get the money reimbursed.

Amount and entitlement

• 131 Euro per month, that is up to 1.572 Euro per calendar year (as at July 2026).
• For all Pflegegrade 1 to 5.
• Condition: care is provided in your own home – including in a shared care flat or in assisted living. The amount is not available in a care home.
• With Pflegegrad 1 it is the only regular cash benefit of the Pflegeversicherung – and it can be used particularly flexibly.

What you may use the money for

• Day and night care – for example for your own share of accommodation and meals
• Kurzzeitpflege (short-term residential care) – likewise for the shares you have to pay yourself
• Services of an approved care service: with Pflegegrad 2 to 5 for supervision and running the household, with Pflegegrad 1 also for personal care such as showering or getting dressed
• Everyday support services recognised under state law: supervision groups for people with dementia, everyday companionship, shopping and escort services, domestic help, Nachbarschaftshilfe (neighbourhood help)

The decisive word is recognised: only what is recognised under state law as an everyday support service is reimbursed. A private cleaner without recognition will not be paid for. In Berlin, 220 such services were most recently recognised, and 30.217 people used them (Landespflegeplan Berlin 2025).

Money you do not use expires – but not straight away

Amounts you do not claim in a calendar year can still be used up to 30 June of the following year. After that they are lost for good. So if you notice that credit has built up, you should buy in services in a targeted way in the first half of the year – for example regular companionship or several days of day care.

Nachbarschaftshilfe: the Berlin and Brandenburg route

Berlin: under the Pflegeunterstützungsverordnung (PuVO), individuals can be recognised as voluntary neighbourhood helpers. What is needed is a recognised basic course of six hours or attendance at an information event; the refresher follows after an interval of several years. The expense allowance is capped (in Berlin at up to 8 Euro per hour) and is billed through the Entlastungsbetrag. Helpers must not be related to the person needing care or live in the same household. Between 2021 and 2023, 2.390 neighbourhood helpers were trained in Berlin – still few measured against the need.

Brandenburg: the state has newly regulated the recognition of Nachbarschaftshilfe (revised recognition regulation of 16 December 2025); the scheme started in January 2026. Here too the rule is: training and registration first, then billing through the Entlastungsbetrag. The details differ from Berlin – ask your Pflegestützpunkt (care support point) about the current procedure in your Landkreis.

This is particularly interesting where a neighbour or an acquaintance already helps out regularly: a favour becomes recognised, paid support.

In addition: the conversion entitlement

From Pflegegrad 2 you can additionally convert up to 40 Prozent of your unused Pflegesachleistung (care benefits in kind) budget into everyday support services (§ 45a Abs. 4 SGB XI). Depending on the Pflegegrad, this turns 131 Euro into several hundred euros a month for supervision and domestic help. More on this under Pflegesachleistung and Kombinationsleistung.

What to do?

1. Check your entitlement. Is there a Pflegegrad and is care provided at home? Then you are entitled to the amount – retrospectively for the current year and, until 30 June, for the previous year as well.
2. Look for a suitable service. First think about what would really take the pressure off: being accompanied to the doctor, an afternoon with supervision, help with the laundry. You will find recognised providers under Directory in the category „Unterstützung im Alltag“ (everyday support).
3. Ask about recognition. Ask the provider to confirm that it is recognised under state law and can bill the Pflegekasse (long-term care insurance fund) directly.
4. Clarify how billing works. Many providers bill the Pflegekasse directly. Otherwise you pay first and then submit the invoice to the Pflegekasse with a short covering letter.
5. Collect receipts. Keep invoices showing the date, the service, the number of hours and the provider – ideally in a folder together with your benefit notices.
6. Keep an eye on the remaining budget. Once a year – best in January – ask the Pflegekasse how much credit you have left, and use it up by 30 June.

Where can you get help?

• Pflegestützpunkte (36 in Berlin, 19 with 27 branch offices in Brandenburg) know the recognised local services and help with the application – free of charge and independent of any provider: Find an advice centre near you.
• Recognised everyday support services are held in the directory under Directory as a category of their own, filterable by district, Landkreis and language.
• Training courses for Nachbarschaftshilfe and information events take place regularly – dates under Events.
• Your Pflegekasse will tell you on request how much credit is left.

All amounts: as at July 2026. Legal basis: §§ 45a, 45b SGB XI, Pflegeunterstützungsverordnung Berlin, Anerkennungsverordnung Brandenburg. Take-up and provider figures: Landespflegeplan Berlin 2025.