Pensioner loses supplement and must return 14 thousand euros by court decision. A resident of Castilla-La Mancha lost his right to a pension supplement after his income from a private pension plan exceeded the limit. The court ordered him to return more than 14 thousand euros received over several years.
A pensioner from Castilla-La Mancha has found himself at the center of a legal dispute with the Seguridad Social system: he is required to return €14,241 to the state, which he received as a supplement to his minimum pension. The reason is significant income from a private pension plan, which, according to the court, should be taken into account when calculating eligibility for the social supplement.
The story began in 2012, when the man retired after 19 years of service and started receiving about €440 per month. Due to the low amount, he was granted a supplement to the minimum pension. However, starting in 2013, the situation changed: the pensioner began to receive between €21,000 and €22,000 annually from a private pension fund, which substantially increased his total income.
Despite the new income, the pensioner continued to receive the government supplement. For several years — from 2013 to 2018 — he simultaneously benefited from both state support and income from the private plan. As a result, Seguridad Social conducted an audit and concluded that his total income exceeded the established limit for receiving the supplement.
Authorities demanded the return of the entire amount of overpaid supplements — more than €14,000. Repayment began to be withheld from his pension each month. Disagreeing with this, the pensioner took the case to court, hoping to challenge the decision and recover the funds that had already been withheld, which by the time of the lawsuit amounted to about €7,500.
However, the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla La Mancha supported the position of the Seguridad Social. The court's decision stated that payments from a private pension plan are considered income and must be taken into account when determining eligibility for a supplement to the minimum pension. As a result, the pensioner is required to return the entire amount received above the established limit.
When the funds from the private pension plan were exhausted and the additional income disappeared, the pensioner once again fell below the threshold entitling him to the supplement. In 2024, the supplement to the minimum pension was reinstated.
This case demonstrates that any additional income, including private pension plans, can directly affect eligibility for state social benefits. Similar situations have already been the subject of court proceedings in Spain; for example, the issue of one-time compensation for the self-employed is also related to the specifics of calculating and accounting for income when granting pensions.
