A man will not have to return the 29,382.56 euros that Social Security claimed from him for having collected for years a family benefit for dependent children that was incompatible with the orphan’s pension, which he already received with a disability supplement. The Superior Court of Justice of Galicia confirms in this case that a Social Security error cannot affect the beneficiary, specifically the consequences of an error that was exclusively his.
According to the ruling, the situation began in 2005, when a social worker from the Municipality of Pedrafita do Cebreiro submitted a request for an orphan’s pension and dependent child benefit in favor of the affected person. That letter already expressly warned that the applicant had a disability of 76%, that he received a non-contributory pension and that he requested both benefits “in order to know if he is entitled to them and, if applicable, renounce the PNC, if it would be economically beneficial.” That is to say, in the application itself it was already clear that there could be doubts about the compatibility between aid.
Despite this, Social Security recognized the orphan’s pension that same year with the improvement supplement provided for people with disabilities. Years later, in 2011, he was also granted family protection benefit for dependent children, with effect from July 1 of that year and an initial amount of 521.40 euros per month.
In 2023, when Social Security reviewed the file and understood that both benefits were incompatible, even though they had already indicated this years ago. That is why it initiated a procedure and claimed 29,382.56 euros in improper charges in the period between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2023, that is, almost four years. After annulling a first resolution due to a procedural problem, Social Security went to court to demand the return of the money.
It was a mistake by Social Security
Both the Social Court number 4 of Lugo and later the TSJ of Galicia rejected that claim. The key to the ruling is that the court understands that the beneficiary did not hide data or cause the error. On the contrary, the Court emphasizes that “it did not contribute in any way to the administration’s error” and recalls that, from the beginning, the application itself submitted by the social services made “express mention of the possible incompatibility with other benefits.”
The Galician TSJ also highlights that it is a welfare benefit, intended to cover basic needs, and that the administrative ruling was maintained for a very long period. In fact, the ruling literally states that “the error from which the improper charge derives is entirely attributable to the INSS” and adds that this error “was maintained over time for more than 10 years.”
With this approach, the Chamber applies the doctrine established by the Supreme Court based on the Cakarevic case of the European Court of Human Rights. This line of jurisprudence maintains that, when the error can only be attributed to the Administration, it should not be corrected at the expense of the citizen, especially if the citizen acted in good faith and the help was linked to a situation of need.
Therefore, the court concludes that the Administration cannot transfer to the beneficiary the consequences of its own incorrect actions. The ruling states that the doctrine of the ECtHR “prohibits the administration from passing on to the administered the consequences of an error attributable only to it,” and for this reason it dismisses the INSS appeal and fully confirms the previous ruling.
In short, the TSJ of Galicia agrees with the affected party and rejects that he has to return the 29,382.56 euros claimed by Social Security. What you need to know is that it is not that the benefits were compatible, but that it was Social Security itself that generated and maintained this situation for years, despite having all the necessary information from the first moment to have avoided it.