A man is being asked to repay an overpayment of 199,853 hryvnias due to an incorrect pension calculation. What was the court's decision?

A man receives an old-age pension under special conditions. However, his seniority coefficient was calculated incorrectly, resulting in an overestimation of the pension amount. Consequently, he is required to return the overpayment of the pension, totaling 199,853 hryvnias. This was stated in the decision of the Ordzhonikidze District Court of Zaporizhia, published on January 13, 2025.

The man has been registered with the management and has been receiving an old-age pension under special conditions since January 18, 2022. During a review of his pension case materials, the department responsible for overseeing the correct assignment of pensions determined that when granting the pension under special conditions in accordance with part 3 of Article 114, for workers directly engaged full-time in metallurgy as per the list of jobs and professions entitled to pension regardless of age, with direct employment for at least 25 years in underground and open-pit mining, as established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine resolution No. 202 dated March 31, 1994, the seniority coefficient was incorrectly calculated (considering multiplicity). According to the data on special seniority from the Register of Insured Persons of the State Register of Mandatory State Social Insurance (certificate OK-5), the profession of crane operator in metallurgy is certified under list No. 2, which led to the inflated pension amount. The pension case was adjusted, specifically recalculating the insurance seniority without considering multiplicity, resulting in an overpayment of the pension amounting to 199,853 hryvnias for the period from January 18, 2022, to December 31, 2023. To resolve the issue regarding the remaining overpayment, the citizen received invitation letters suggesting he return the overpayment by submitting a statement regarding its content or by refunding the funds to the management's account.

The man did not submit a response to the lawsuit. At the same time, during court hearings on December 25, 2024, and January 6, 2025, he opposed the satisfaction of the claims, citing the absence of any abuse in his actions, and it was also not established that he provided false information. He points out that the incorrect pension calculation resulted from an error by the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the claim. The pension overpayment occurred due to the actions of the Pension Fund management staff.

"When assigning the pension to the defendant, an error was made in the calculation (the seniority coefficient was calculated with multiplicity instead of without it), therefore, the court did not find any bad faith on the part of the pension recipient, and the overpayment arose from the actions of the Pension Fund management staff. Under these circumstances, in resolving the dispute, the court found that the plaintiff (the payer of funds) did not prove the fact of bad faith on the part of the defendant (the recipient of funds), and thus the court concluded to reject the claims," the court emphasized.