Kokkalis to Michaelidou: “Protect widow’s pension beneficiaries from potential future over-indebtedness”

“How will you prevent widow pensioners from being financially overburdened in the future due to non-implementation of the law and non-adjustment of pension amounts after three years?” The above question is posed by Head of Department for Rural Development and Food and Member of Parliament for Larisa of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance Mr. Vassilis Kokkaliswith his question to the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Mrs. Domna Michailidou.

Mr. Kokkalis’ question in detail: “By virtue of Law 4387/2016, with the passage of three years from the time of his/her spouse’s death, the beneficiary of a death pension, who at the same time, either becomes employed – an employee, or a beneficiary of retirement in his own right, he receives half of the amount of the pension he received during the first three years. Given that during the initial first period he received 70% of the pension to which the directly insured (deceased) was entitled, during the second period after three years he is entitled to receive 35% of the initial pension of the directly insured – deceased.

However, the following paradox occurs, the explanation of which is possibly politically motivated. In particular, despite the fact that after the expiry of the first three years the amount of the death pension should not be reduced regardless of the employment or retirement in his own right of the surviving spouse, however, it is still attributed in fact to the original rate of 70 %, non-applicability of the law.

Of the total of 385,921 beneficiaries of a widow’s pension in the month of December 2023), it is estimated that 290,000 have completed the 3-year period and of these 200,000 are working and retired. However, the 150,000 beneficiaries, including those in the private sector, still receive from the EFKA the amount of the original pension, without the adjustment of the amount and its reduction to 50%, while the adjustment-reduction is made only for pensioners due to death of the State and the former OGA.

In particular, by not adjusting the amount of pensions, the beneficiary pensioner due to death receives part of the pension without being entitled to a part of it, thus creating a fictitious and not real income, with the following consequences:

1. The pension of 70% of the initial amount, although it is notional income, is nevertheless added to the earnings from work or pension in its own right, affecting the declared and taxable income, and the amount of cleared tax.
2. As long as the notional sum of the two main pensions exceeds the amount of 1,400 euros and the sum of the supplementary ones exceeds 300 euros, the beneficiaries pay Pensioner Solidarity Contribution (EAS), especially those who have a pension in their own right.
3. A health contribution of 6% is withheld on a larger amount, which they are not entitled to (i.e. 6% is withheld from both the main and supplementary pensions, regardless of their number and total amount paid, while in case of employment 7.1% is withheld on the gross wages of the employee and the company, while 64 euros are paid per month in case of self-employment-freelancer).
4. The most unfavorable consequence concerns the future, as the fictitious part of the pension, as long as it is not based on a legal cause, will be considered as “unnecessarily paid” with the consequence that it will be sought by the EFKA and the beneficiaries of the death pension will be asked to return the excess (unnecessarily paid) amount, which will either be withheld from the pension monthly, or the claims will be transferred to the Collection Center (KEAO), bringing the pensioners without any fault and without their knowledge, to the enforcement measures.

Because, the mentioned problem tends to take on social dimensions as more and more pensioners due to deaths turn to EFKA and ask for the pensions to be cut to the amount provided so that neither they nor their heirs suffer the consequences.

Because, despite the repeated complaints of the pensioners and despite the fact that the Ministry is aware of the adverse consequences of not applying the 1/2 pension reduction, it nevertheless attributes the non-application of the reduction to EFKA’s electronic systems, while EFKA to the contractor company that creates the software, without any apparent intention to provide a definitive solution to this problem with its multiple consequences.

Following this, the Minister is asked: Do you intend to take the necessary actions, so that on the one hand the problem of the payment of fictitious pensions in part will be remedied from now on and on the other hand, to deal with the thousands of cases of pensioners who have already been receiving the excess amount for a number of years , in such a way as to prevent the risk of seeking these sums as unduly paid, preventing the financial disaster that will result from the certification of the unduly paid?’