A worker with Crohn’s disease, psoriatic arthritis and chronic migraine has managed to have his absolute permanent disability recognized after the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia dismissed the Social Security appeal, without studying his ailments. Thus, you will be entitled to 100% of the regulatory base, which is 3,389.10 euros (although the amount will be limited to the maximum pension). The reason, according to lawyer Víctor Arpa, is that the INSS presented the certificate that it was already paying the pension, when in reality the worker demonstrated that he was not collecting it.
The lawyer specialized in labor law and disabilities explains that Social Security “made a mistake that cost them the resource” by explaining what the process was like and what must be taken into account in these situations.
The worker, born in 1976, worked as a supervisor in a vehicle factory, and suffered, in addition to severe psoriasis, tenosynovitis in both hands and a depressive episode, according to the sentence, which he has been able to access. NewsWork. Although he requested permanent disability from Social Security, this was denied in October 2023, but both the Social Court of Barcelona and later the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia agreed with him.
“He wins the trial and gets a pension of 100% of his regulatory base,” says Arpa. “What is the problem? That the INSS does not agree with the sentence and decides to appeal it. So far nothing particularly strange, but there is a very important detail.”
The certificate of a payment that did not arrive
“When a sentence condemns the INSS to pay a benefit and you want to appeal it, it is not enough to simply file the appeal,” explains the lawyer. “The law requires that you prove that you are beginning to pay that benefit and that you are going to continue paying it while the appeal is being processed.”
This is stated in article 230.2 c) of the Law regulating social jurisdiction (can be consulted at this link), where it explains that Social Security does not have to do so, as long as it demonstrates with a certificate that it has already started paying the worker and that it will continue to pay him while the appeal lasts. In the case of non-payment “the appeal process will be terminated”, that is, the appeal ends there.
What’s more, the Supreme Court recalled in a ruling from May 2025 that the idea is that the worker “is not left unassisted during the processing of the appeal”, that is, that he is not left without income while justice decides.
“Here comes the interesting thing. The INSS presented a certificate saying that it had begun to pay for the disability, but the worker confirmed that he was not really collecting the pension,” says Arpa.
Social Security had filed the appeal on December 15, 2025 with a certificate indicating that they had started paying the pension on the 12th, but this was not the case, since the worker provided a “negative pensioner certificate” (a document indicating that he does not receive any pension) that was issued by Social Security on March 13, 2026.
“Consequence, what did the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia do?” asks the lawyer. “He did not even consider whether or not the worker had the right to this absolute permanent disability. He considered that procedural requirement to be unfulfilled and ended up dismissing the INSS appeal.”
Absolute permanent disability
The Chamber concludes that the pension was not paid to the affected person. What’s more, remember that it is not enough to just certify it; It is necessary that there be a real payment, “not a mere commitment,” and that the appeal declines even if the non-payment is “merely temporary, due to an error.” For this reason, they confirmed this worker’s absolute permanent disability, although keeping in mind that there was an appeal before the Supreme Court.
In the case of absolute permanent disability, 100% of the regulatory base is charged, in the case of this worker, although he is entitled to 100%, this will be limited by the maximum pension of the year in which it was caused, 2023, and since then it only increases with the revaluation, so in 2026 it would be around 3,352 euros per month according to the calculation of NoticiasTrabajo, since this is regulated by article 57 of the General Social Security Law.
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Arpa explains that in this ruling we must take into account “something that I always tell you” and that is that, “when the INSS denies you a permanent disability, that resolution does not necessarily mean that you do not have the right.” In the case of this worker, “he initially received a denial from the INSS, he complained, went to court and got an absolute permanent disability recognized,” something that begins by first filing a claim with Social Security within the period of 30 days from the notification (article 71 of the Law regulating social jurisdiction), as Arpa previously explained.