The Pension Fund made an error and is demanding a man to repay an overpayment of 18,526 hryvnias. Here’s the court's ruling on the matter.

The Pension Fund identified discrepancies in the disability group classification within the man's pension case materials. After reviewing and aligning the information, it was discovered that there was an overpayment of pension amounting to 18,526 hryvnias for the period from January 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023. This information is stated in the decision of the Novozavodsky District Court of Chernihiv, published on January 22, 2025.

The man is registered with the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in Chernihiv Oblast and receives a disability pension of the 3rd group for general illness in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Mandatory State Pension Insurance” since December 22, 2020. According to the MSEC certificate dated December 22, 2020, he was assigned a 2nd group disability status valid until December 31, 2021, and according to the MSEC certificate dated January 25, 2022, a 3rd group disability status valid until January 31, 2023. By the decision of the Main Department dated June 23, 2022, the pension was recalculated, but erroneously based on the 2nd group disability. Subsequently, during the extension of the pension according to the MSEC certificate dated July 20, 2023, the recalculation was made by the decision dated July 31, 2023, based on the 3rd group until July 31, 2024, revealing discrepancies in the disability groups within the pension case materials. The pension case was reviewed and brought into compliance, resulting in the identification of a pension overpayment of 18,526 hryvnias for the period from January 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the claim. The funds are subject to return if the accounting error and the man’s bad faith are proven.

"In the court's opinion, the plaintiff has not proven and has not provided the court with evidence confirming the accounting error, nor evidence that the pension overpayment to the defendant occurred as a result of abuses, any bad faith behavior on the part of the pensioner, or the provision of false data that led or could lead to the occurrence of the pension overpayment. Under such circumstances, the court concludes that the claim should be denied," the court emphasized.