The pension fund demands the return of 131,844 hryvnias in disability payments after the deprivation of status: the court’s decision.

The PFU demands the return of the disability pension received from the husband in the amount of 131,844 hryvnias

Men, based on the conclusion of the expert group on the assessment of daily activity persons not recognized as persons with disabilities. The pension fund recalculated the pension, as a result of which there was an overpayment of the excessively paid disability pension in the amount of 131,844 hryvnias, which is requested to be returned. This is stated in the decision of the Sniguriv District Court of the Mykolaiv Region, published on January 9, 2025.

The man was registered with the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Mykolaiv region and received disability benefits of group III from August 14, 2023, appointed in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Mandatory State Pension Insurance” dated July 9, 2003 No. 1058-IV, for the period until October 31, 2024, based on the application of 10/30/2023, an extract from the review report of the medical and social expert commission dated 10/20/2023. Subsequently, the pension was extended on the basis of an extract from the act of the medical and social expert commission dated 11.12.2024, for the period until 10.31.2025. According to the extract from the decision of the expert team for assessing the daily functioning of a person dated 25.02.2025, he was not recognized as a person with a disability from 14.08.2023. Based on the above, by the decision of the PFU dated September 12, 2025, the pension was recalculated, resulting in an overpayment of the overpaid disability pension for the period from August 14, 2023 to September 30, 2025 in the amount of 131,844 hryvnias. In a letter dated September 18, 2025, he was informed about the overpayment of the pension and the need to return it to the PFU account. Since he did not voluntarily return the mentioned funds, the PFU applied to the court with a claim for their compulsory recovery.

On December 15, 2025, the court received an answer in which the husband asked to reject the lawsuit in its entirety. He notes that in September 2025, while reviewing the information in the personal office of the PFU, he learned that by the decision of the expert group on the assessment of a person’s daily activity dated February 25, 2025, he was not recognized as a person with a disability from August 14, 2023. Disagreeing with this decision, he appealed to the Mykolaiv District Administrative Court with an administrative claim to the Center for Assessing the Functional State of the Person of the State Institution “Ukrainian State Research Institute of Medical and Social Disability Problems of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine” to declare the decision of 25.02.2025 illegal and annul it. At this moment, a final verdict has not been taken on the case. The citizen has never received any messages, letters or other correspondence from the State institution “Ukrainian State Research Institute of Medical and Social Disability Problems of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine” about the need to appear at the specified institution for re-evaluation, and therefore believes that the decision of the Center for the Assessment of the Functional State of the Person was made contrary to the established procedure, is illegal. He points out that there is no evidence in PFU’s statement of claim that he committed any abuse on his part or submitted false data during the calculation and payment of his disability pension. The declaration of illegality and the cancellation of references to the inspection reports of the MSEK, on ​​the basis of which he was awarded a pension, in connection with the violations committed by the expert group for assessing the daily activity of a person of the Center for the Assessment of the Functional State of a Person, do not indicate the presence of dishonesty in his actions, which consisted in providing false information for the appointment of a disability pension. Also, the presence of another mandatory condition, namely a calculation error on the part of the PFU that paid the pension, was not established, and such a circumstance was not confirmed by proper and admissible evidence. In addition, he notes that the decision of the expert team for assessing a person’s daily activity of the Center for the Assessment of the Functional State of a Person canceled the disability from 14.08.2023 within the scope of its review by the medical and social expert commission, which was in effect until 01.11.2024, and the said decision does not mention the cancellation of the disability, which was established from 12.11.2024 and was in effect until 01.11.2025.

What decision did the court make? The court rejected the demands of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Mykolaiv region in satisfaction of the claim.

“The court agrees with the arguments of the defendant’s representative that during the case the plaintiff did not provide proper and admissible evidence to confirm the fact that the defendant submitted to the PFU authorities knowingly false documents that became the basis for the appointment of a pension, as well as abuse on the part of the defendant, or his dishonesty. It should be noted that the pension payments to the defendant were assigned and paid on the basis of his recognition as a person with a disability within their validity period from 14.08.2023 to 31.10.2025. The case materials do not contain information, and the plaintiff did not provide adequate and admissible evidence to confirm that the decision on the appointment of a pension and the very fact of the overpayment of the pension occurred as a result of the behavior of the defendant, which contained signs of abuse or was dishonest in its nature, and therefore the pension payments paid are not subject to Taking into account the above, the court came to the conclusion that there are no grounds for satisfying the claims,” the court emphasized.