When the medical court or Social Security “Disability Assessment Team” is summoned to assess the worker’s ailments and propose what degree of disability corresponds to them, this generates many doubts, since in many cases they do not know what documentation to provide or what they have to answer to the questions they are asked. This may be because, according to the latest INSS data, of the 268,028 permanent disability files resolved in 2025, only 29.97% ended up recognizing the disability.
The summons to go through the medical court (the Disability Assessment Team, the INSS team, with doctors, a Labor inspector and officials, who examines the worker and proposes whether any of the degrees of permanent disability correspond to him or her) usually comes with doubts about what they are going to ask or what documents and reports should be brought. The fact that you attend does not mean that they will grant permanent disability, as it is simply an exam.
Víctor Arpa, labor lawyer, explains in a video that in this situation the important thing is to remain calm. “Don’t worry, you’re not going to a trial or a judge is waiting for you, but they are going to assess something very important, how your health affects your ability to work,” he says.
He defines it as “a medical assessment of your work limitations.” In Catalonia, for example, it points out that the ICAM does it, referring to the acronym under which the Generalitat’s medical evaluation service continues to operate.
Why do they quote you?
For Arpa, the medical tribunal can summon you to “review your sick leave, assess a permanent disability or review one that you already have recognized.” Here he explains a misinterpretation of the workers, as he explains that the fact that they call you “does not mean that they are going to grant you a pension, nor that they are going to automatically discharge you.”
According to the lawyer, when you go to the appointment, the professionals “will review your documentation, ask you about your illnesses, your treatments and your work and may do an examination.” This part is very important, since, according to Arpa, “it is not enough to say what diseases you have, you have to explain what prevents you from doing.”
For example, “if you have a back injury and you work in a warehouse, explain if you can lift loads, bend down, or stand and for how long,” because the same injury, he adds, can affect very differently depending on each person’s job. It is the same idea that the lawyer already defended when he explained that Social Security grants disability due to work limitations.
When going to the appointment, you must bring “your updated medical reports, the relevant tests and information about your treatment. Do not assume that they already have everything and make sure that the reports include your limitations in addition to the diagnosis,” says the lawyer. When you have to talk, you have to explain “what is happening to you with concrete examples, without exaggerating, but also without minimizing its importance.” “If you have better and worse days, tell how your condition varies,” the lawyer recommends.
Another thing that the lawyer warns about is that leaving the consultation does not mean that everything has already been decided, since in a permanent disability “the final decision is made by the National Social Security Institute, taking into account the medical evaluation and the other requirements.” Among these requirements are, for example, the years of contributions required by article 195 of the General Social Security Law when the disability comes from a common illness.
Social Security pays 24 monthly payments of the regulatory base at once to workers with partial permanent disability, who only pay income taxes for 70% of that compensation.
Elisa Cardona, lawyer, on the profession when requesting permanent disability: “It is not enough to say I have this illness. It must be shown that my illness prevents me from doing these tasks of my profession.”
This is so, since the only thing the medical court does is propose, as stated in Royal Decree 1300/1995, which explains that the team issues an opinion-proposal that is mandatory but not binding, that is, that the INSS is not obliged to follow it, and that the resolution is signed by the provincial director. In the event that there is no response within 135 days, the request is deemed denied (what is known as administrative silence) and the worker can complain in the same way as if they had been told no in writing.