How to Recover Unpaid Pension Amounts from the Pension Fund of Ukraine
Given the rising cost of living, many pensioners question whether their pension has been calculated correctly and whether all relevant information, including salary data, has been taken into account when determining the amount of their pension. To obtain an answer, some pensioners contact the Pension Fund of Ukraine, while others seek advice from lawyers and other professionals specialising in pension and social security matters.
In practice, pensioners may receive less than the amount to which they are legally entitled because certain periods of employment, salary information or other relevant circumstances have not been properly taken into account when calculating or recalculating their pension. In some cases, the problem may also arise because the pensioner did not submit documents that could affect the amount of pension payments.
Suppose a pensioner discovers that part of the pension to which they are entitled has not been paid. What should they do? Depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary to challenge the actions or decision of the Pension Fund in court and seek recovery of the outstanding pension payments. However, an important procedural question arises: which court has jurisdiction over such a dispute? The Supreme Court has addressed this issue and explained the distinction between claims that fall within administrative jurisdiction and those that may be considered under civil procedure.
One of the cases concerned a claim against a territorial body of the Pension Fund for recovery of a pension difference that had not been properly calculated and paid. The claimant initially brought the case before a court exercising civil jurisdiction. In considering the issue, the Supreme Court distinguished between the following types of claims:
1) claims for recovery of pension amounts that were underpaid or not received, including outstanding pension arrears;
2) claims for compensation for the loss of part of a person’s income resulting from delays in the payment of amounts due.
In the first situation, the dispute is public-law in nature because it arises from legal relations between an individual and the Pension Fund of Ukraine acting as a public authority. Such disputes generally fall within the jurisdiction of administrative courts. This is because the dispute concerns the calculation, granting, recalculation or payment of a pension by the Pension Fund in the exercise of its statutory public powers.
The second situation is different. A claim for compensation arising from a delay in the payment of pension amounts may have a different legal nature from a dispute concerning the pension entitlement itself. The Supreme Court has distinguished such claims from disputes directly concerning the calculation or payment of a pension and has addressed the question of their consideration under the applicable rules of jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court reached a similar conclusion in another case where the Pension Fund had already repaid the outstanding pension arrears and the remaining dispute concerned only compensation for the delayed payment.
Therefore, correctly determining which court has jurisdiction over a particular pension dispute is essential. Choosing the appropriate procedure from the outset can help avoid the dismissal or closure of proceedings on jurisdictional grounds, unnecessary repeated applications to different courts and additional delays in recovering pension payments or compensation to which a pensioner may be entitled.
