Consultation on the calculation of a pension

In order to retire, men and women in Ukraine must reach the age of 60 and have at least 31 years of insurance experience. However, in many cases it is possible to accrue a pension on preferential terms. If you are interested in topics related to pension law, you can seek advice from the specialists of the Prikhodko&Partners law firm. Specializing in the mentioned field of jurisprudence, we know how to really help you. We advise both on the issue of military pensions and on the topic of social security for civilian pensioners.

Where to go to apply for a pension?

If the pensioner is no longer working, then an application for accrual of a pension can be submitted in two ways:

• personally, by writing and directing it to the territorial body of the Pension Fund;
• through the PFU electronic services web portal or Diya Portal.

In the second case, you need to use an electronic signature based on a qualified electronic signature certificate. This is the procedure provided for by the current legislation of Ukraine.

If the pensioner is still working, then the application is submitted through an authorized official of the organization, enterprise or institution with which the person is in labor relations.

What you should know about the application?

The application for the appointment of a pension must meet the requirements specified in the “Procedure for submission and processing of documents for the appointment (recalculation) of pensions in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Mandatory State Pension Insurance”. This Procedure was approved by Resolution of the Board of the Pension Fund of Ukraine № 22-1 of November 25, 2005 (as amended). Appendix 1 to this regulatory act contains a list of documents that must be attached to the application.

What problems can a pensioner face?

Even in cases where the pensioner has properly collected all the documents required for the appointment of a pension in accordance with the legal norms, the officials of the Pension Fund may still have questions about them. As practice shows, in many cases the Pension Fund representatives are not on the side of the pensioner. Therefore, even in those cases where legislation and judicial practice testify in favor of the applicant, he often refuses to defend his rights and legitimate interests further. This situation occurs for 2 reasons:

• the pensioner may consider that the official refusal of the state body that implements the pension policy is final and has no prospects for appeal;
• the applicant does not know that the vast majority of cases in court against the Pension Fund are successful, so he pessimistically assesses the opportunities to defend himself.

When our law office is approached by an applicant regarding issues related to the accrual or transfer of a pension, we act in the following algorithm:

• we look at the entries in the work book in order to assess the risks of non-enrollment of PFU for certain periods of work for one reason or another;
• we resolve the issue of the need for additional certificates to confirm seniority, including a preferential one;
• we look at OK-5 in order to investigate the payment by the enterprises where the person worked, the social security system and, if necessary, the inclusion of seniority in the special.

This list is not exhaustive. Everything is decided individually for each person and depends on what type of pension is assigned to him.

What to do when the amount of pension is less than it should be?

Sometimes pensioners have a problem with the accrual of the pension itself (for example, if parts of the insurance period were not included). And sometimes it consists in the fact that the pension amount is calculated incorrectly, so a person receives less money than he should have. In this case, we will carefully calculate what the size of your pension should be, in accordance with all current legal norms, which should be relied on in your case. And then, if you can really claim a higher pension, we will draw up a further action strategy.

As a rule, everything happens as follows:

• we accompany your interaction with the PF when writing an application regarding the transfer of a pension;
• representatives of the Pension Fund respond with an official refusal;
• after that, we turn to the administrative court and, relying on current legal norms, win the case.

Sometimes we hear from clients the question why it is necessary to turn to the Pension Fund itself first, and then to the court. The fact is that in order to appeal the refusal to properly transfer the pension, you must first have this official refusal in hand. Therefore, the algorithm of actions is exactly like this.

Taking a risk…

Even in those cases where a pensioner has sufficient grounds for assigning or transferring a pension, he may face artificial complications in this matter. So professional lawyers help to eliminate them. Fill out the feedback form – and our specialist will contact you to provide an initial consultation.