Complaint to the Pension Fund: where to file, sample complaint to the Pension Fund

The legislative framework

Unfortunately, the reform of pension legislation each time makes it more and more difficult to understand not only by ordinary citizens, but even by pension workers themselves. Therefore, they often make mistakes when calculating length of service, amount of payments and other issues. If you have the right to receive any payment, we strongly recommend that before contacting the Pension Fund you contact a lawyer to find out:

what documents will be required to obtain, and which the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation has no right to require;
how to calculate the length of service required to receive a pension in your individual case;
the size of the payment itself.

With this knowledge, you can confidently submit an application to the Pension Fund and not be afraid that your rights will be violated.

However, before writing to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, it would not be amiss to personally familiarize yourself with the main regulations in accordance with which the Pension Fund carries out its activities:

in 2021, the Board of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation approved administrative regulations for the provision of services, which describe in detail all the conditions for receiving a particular service, including: who has the right to receive the service, an exhaustive list of documents to be provided, deadlines, etc., up to requirements for the premises in which the service is provided. Any violation of these regulations may be appealed;
Federal Law of December 15, 2001 No. 167-FZ, Federal Law of April 1, 1996 No. 27-FZ - regulation of compulsory pension insurance;
Federal Law No. 166-FZ of December 15, 2001 – on types of pensions and the procedure for their appointment;
Federal Law No. 256-FZ of December 29, 2006 – on maternity capital and the general conditions for its payment;
Federal Law No. 210-FZ of July 27, 2010 - contains general rules for the provision of public services, including the procedure for appealing actions and inactions of government agencies;
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated August 16, 2012 No. 840 - on the procedure for filing and considering complaints about violations by government agencies.

Grounds for appeal

Let's consider the most common reasons for complaints about the actions of employees of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.

Incorrect calculation of pension accruals

This is perhaps the most common reason for citizens’ dissatisfaction with the work of the Pension Fund. The formula for calculating the amount of pension payments is quite complex and depends on many factors: year of birth, place of residence, length of work experience, working conditions, profession, etc. Therefore, Pension Fund employees often do not take into account all factors and assign a lower pension level than expected.

In this case, it is important to appeal the decision of the Pension Fund by presenting correct calculations and evidence of all factors influencing the calculation.

Inappropriate behavior of Pension Fund employees

In some cases, the fault of inadequate service in Pension Fund branches is the human factor: employees are rude and rude, provoke the formation of long queues, or unreasonably refuse service.

In these cases, you should file a complaint with the head of the relevant department so that the service is provided properly and disciplinary action is taken against the incompetent employee.

Refusal to provide services

The pension fund is obliged to accept submitted applications and packages of documents; a refusal to accept them, as well as a demand for documents beyond the list specified by the regulations, is unlawful. The application may be returned, but the basis for the return must be strictly justified in accordance with the law.

Violation of deadlines for decision-making and provision of services

The deadlines for consideration of applications are contained in the above regulations. Thus, the consideration of the application and the decision to issue or refuse to issue maternity capital is carried out within a period not exceeding five working days from the date of receipt of the application. If these deadlines are violated, this is a reason to contact higher authorities.

The Pension Fund's decision contains errors and typos

Errors in documents can cause them to lose their validity. Therefore, it is important to carefully check the documents issued by the government agency and, if necessary, apply for their correction.

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If you have encountered violations by Pension Fund employees or have not received a response to your appeal to the Pension Fund, leave a complaint on this page.

Older people remain active. It manifests itself, among other things, in the desire to protect one’s rights and interests. Therefore, in Moscow and other constituent entities of the federation, there are often cases when dissatisfied pensioners complain about mistakes made by employees of Pension Fund branches. Even if there are legal grounds, such a claim must be made in accordance with certain rules.

Procedure for appealing actions and decisions of the Pension Fund

Although the law calls the pre-trial appeal procedure a citizen’s right, and not an obligation, in fact it is impossible to appeal the actions and decisions of Pension Fund of Russia employees in court or other authorities without first filing a complaint directly with the Pension Fund itself. Therefore, you need to start complaining in the following order.

The head of the territorial branch of the Pension Fund considers complaints about the actions of employees of his branch, including rudeness, refusal of service, etc.
The decisions of the head of the territorial branch must be appealed to a higher branch of the Pension Fund. As a rule, they are called regional departments.
The actions and decisions of the regional management of the Pension Fund are appealed to the central (Moscow) branch of the Pension Fund. Also, if you are faced with a significant violation of the deadlines for providing services or making payments, it makes sense to complain directly to the central office, since it monitors compliance by territorial offices with legislation and the quality of services provided.
If complaints to all authorities of the Pension Fund have led nowhere, you need to restore your rights through the courts.
The decision of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation can be appealed to other government agencies, but such complaints do not give a positive result in all cases. However, you need to use every opportunity to protect your rights, so we’ll tell you where else you can complain about the work of the Pension Fund:
The Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation is also authorized to consider complaints about violations of the law. The procedure for filing and considering a complaint at the prosecutor's office has its own specifics.

Conclusion

You can contact the Pension Fund of Russia with a complaint or question either during a personal visit or remotely by leaving a message on the website. You can also complain about the Pension Fund, if after sending an appeal there, no action was taken, you can contact the Presidential Administration or the Prosecutor's Office. You can leave a message on the website, call the hotline or come in person for a visit. If none of the steps help, then you can draw up a statement of claim (a sample is available on the Internet) and send it to the courts, having previously supported the document with evidence of attempts to resolve the issue pre-trial.

Methods of contacting the Pension Fund

Regardless of the level of office to which you need to send a complaint, there are several ways to submit it.

Personally

If possible, the easiest way is to come to the department in person during reception hours. However, verbally expressing complaints will not be enough: you must submit a complaint in writing. To do this, you need to make a complaint in two copies: one will be accepted for consideration, and the second will be marked as received and returned.

This copy will serve as proof of contact with the appropriate authority.

By mail

The complaint should be sent to the location of the relevant department. Contacts of the branch you are interested in can be found on the official website of the Pension Fund. The letter to the Pension Fund must be sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. Such a letter can be tracked on the Russian Post website, and the receipt notification will be proof that the complaint has been accepted for consideration.

In electronic form

An electronic appeal is convenient because you can send it without leaving your home, simply by filling out a form on the official website of the Pension Fund. To draw up an appeal through the online reception of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, you will need SNILS, as well as scans of documents that must be attached to the complaint. The maximum length of an appeal is only 2000 characters, so it needs to be succinct and concise. The response to your email will be sent to the specified email address.

Time limits for consideration of complaints to the Pension Fund of Russia

The period for receiving a response to a complaint should be counted from the moment it is received by the Pension Fund of Russia. This is the date when you brought the complaint in person or sent an email, or the date the Pension Fund of Russia office received the letter with the complaint, which is indicated in the receipt receipt. Further, the period should be calculated as follows:

the complaint is registered within 1 working day;
As a general rule, 15 working days are allotted for consideration of a complaint, but for some cases a shorter period of consideration is established. Complaints are reviewed within 5 working days:
to refuse to accept documents;
refusal to correct typos and errors;
for violation of the established deadlines for such corrections;
if the complaint is satisfied, measures must be taken to eliminate the identified violations within 5 working days;
the response based on the results of the review is sent no later than the business day following the day the decision is made.

Thus, the maximum period for the Pension Fund to respond to an application is 17 working days, and within 21 working days the violation must be eliminated.

Causes

The reasons for filing complaints can be very diverse, but the Pension Fund itself indicates the following reasons for filing:

Violation of terms of provision of services;
Violation of deadlines for registering requests for services;
Refusals to correct typos, provide government services, or accept documents;
Requiring additional documents or additional payment.

Of course, the list cannot end here. So you may not be counted into your insurance period for periods that you think should be taken into account, you may not be given a preferential bonus, and they may simply be rude to you. What to do in these cases? The fact is that a complaint can be submitted to the Pension Fund itself and the official website lists violations that are monitored by the organization itself. Accordingly, for all other reasons you will have to contact the supervisory authorities.

How to file a complaint to the Pension Fund of Russia?

The law does not provide for a special form of application to the Pension Fund, so the text can be written freely. However, there are still a number of requirements for a complaint.

Firstly, in accordance with Government Decree No. 840, the complaint must contain the following information:

the name of the PFR branch where the complaint will be filed, as well as, if necessary, the full name of its head;
personal data of the applicant: full name, address, telephone number, SNILS, email address (if the response is required in electronic form);
the essence of the appeal: which actions are being appealed, which officials;
justification for the complaint, including the documents required for this.

Secondly, additional requirements for applying to government agencies are established by Federal Law No. 59 of May 2, 2006 “On the procedure for considering applications from citizens of the Russian Federation”:

A written complaint on paper must be dated and signed.
The application must not contain insults or profanity, otherwise it may be left without consideration.

Thirdly, all legal nuances should be taken into account. As mentioned above, the claims in the complaint must be justified, i.e. supported by relevant documents and references to the provisions of the law. Here everything largely depends on the circumstances in each specific situation, so it is better to seek advice from a lawyer.

In addition, when writing, you must adhere to a business style of presentation, succinctly and concisely describe the circumstances of the complaint, and maintain chronological order. It is also better not to deviate from the topic of the address, not to make lyrical digressions and exclude the emotional component.

Taking into account the above, the structure of the complaint to the Pension Fund consists of the following elements:

The header of the document, which indicates information about the applicant and recipient of the complaint.
The essence of the appeal, consisting of:
the motivational part, where the applicant substantiates his claims with references to documents and legal norms;
the petition part, which indicates specific measures expected from the Pension Fund.
Enumeration of applications.
Date and signature if the document is on paper.

To draw up a complaint yourself, you can use our sample complaint to the PRF against a decision.

Sample complaint

Sample and drawing rules

A complaint to the prosecutor's office is an official document on the basis of which the prosecutor will authorize an official audit of a government agency. Accordingly, there are requirements for a complaint - it must be drawn up without the use of profanity, threats, insults and unlawful demands.

Adhere to a structure that is typical for all documents and requests. The header should include information about where you are sending the complaint and who you are. Don't forget to write your address and phone number if you really want someone to answer it. Next, after the word “Complaint” in the middle, you will need to describe the situation that arose at the Pension Fund of Russia, quote the employees’ responses, attach documentary refusals or decisions about the impossibility of fulfilling your requirements, and also request verification of illegal actions against you. Be sure to refer to dates, laws and statutes. Also, provide sufficiently compelling arguments for your appeal.

Important! It is advisable not to ask the prosecutor’s office to punish the FIU that “offended” you, because this body does not deal with punishments. Just ask for verification and leave the punishment to the judiciary.

Expert opinion

Also, remember that unsigned complaints, complaints without your name (anonymous), as well as those full of threats and profanity will not even be considered. In these cases, you will face a lawful refusal, if not a counter-complaint or even a lawsuit for insults.

This is important to know: Applying to the Prosecutor's Office via the Internet: sample 2021

Appealing decisions of the Pension Fund in court

The practice of appealing the actions and decisions of the Pension Fund in court is quite common, since this is often the only way to achieve justice. It makes sense to go to court when you need to get the Pension Fund to make a positive decision or recalculate pension payments. The court will consider the case on its merits, so with the right argumentation there is every chance of getting the claim satisfied.

It is better to entrust the drafting of a statement of claim to lawyers, since it is important for the court to have a legally competent substantiation of the claims. In addition, lawyers know the prevailing judicial practice and will be able to present more compelling arguments for the court.

Contents and samples of claims

If you decide to file a claim yourself, the easiest way to do this is to use previously written complaints as a basis. The following changes will need to be made:

The name of the court in which the claim will be filed is written in the header of the statement of claim. The statement of claim is filed with the district court at the location of the territorial body of the Pension Fund of Russia, whose actions are being appealed. The plaintiff (applicant) and the defendant (PFR branch) are indicated;
to the statement of circumstances in the complaint, a brief description of the pre-trial settlement of the dispute should be added: filing a complaint and responding to it;
to the basic requirements you can also add a requirement for compensation for moral damage and payment of interest for the use of other people's funds;
attach all the documents that were attached to the complaint, as well as the complaint itself and the response to it.

Sample claim

Application procedure

To file a claim in court, you must:

Pay the state fee. The state duty upon application will be 300 rubles. Pensioners and disabled people of groups I and II are exempt from paying it. A receipt for payment is attached to the statement of claim.
If the application is submitted in paper form, you need to print out the statements according to the number of persons participating in the case: for yourself, the defendant and the court. Copies of the attachments must also be printed for the court and for the defendant. The originals should be kept with you and will only need to be taken with you to the court hearing.
Take to the post office a copy of the claim for the defendant along with the attachments and send it to the PRF branch by registered mail with acknowledgment of delivery. Receipts of delivery will also need to be attached to the claim in court.
Apply to the court. This can be done in three ways:
send the claim by registered mail;
use the electronic system of GAS Justice and send documents electronically in PDF format. This will require authorization through the ESIA.

The consideration of the case will take about two months, unless it is necessary to appeal the court decision to a higher authority.

Claim to the Pension Fund for recalculation (indexation) of pension

Not only pensioners, but also working people who have lost their ability to work or simply want to find out about contributions to this authority are forced to periodically apply to the Pension Fund. There is a specific algorithm for any application: completing the application, the necessary documents to provide information.

If any disagreements arise and you need to get additional clarification or challenge the actions of the Pension Fund, then a complaint is filed. Often, complaints are filed with the Pension Fund due to incorrect calculation or recalculation of pensions, non-payment of the pension itself or any bonuses, or refusal to recalculate.

But in order for the result to truly meet expectations, you need to know the rules for drawing up such documents, as well as the main nuances of this issue.

General provisions

Before you start directly writing a complaint against the pension fund authorities, you need to find out which department you need to contact and how it is possible to send this appeal. A correctly drafted application and sent to the address can not only significantly speed up the review process, but also save time spent on submitting your document to the office.

Submission methods

Anyone can submit an appeal by choosing the most convenient method. However, the algorithm for considering applications will not change. That is, absolutely equal chances of receiving a timely response, regardless of the method of submission. You can send your appeal:

simply by bringing an application in 2 copies to the organization and receiving a mark on acceptance for consideration on one;
by sending by registered mail, in which case notification of delivery will be required, as well as a list of the contents if there are additional attached documents;
Having filled out the form on the website, you should definitely write separately which department the request will be sent to, since all forms arrive at a single address and are then redistributed to prepare the response form.

Each of the proposed methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. You need to choose the best option depending on how it will be more convenient to fill out the necessary documents.

It is easier to submit the form online because it is guaranteed that it is impossible to miss any important piece of information. But at the same time, it will be much more difficult to attach documentary evidence to the application - they must first be scanned and then sent as an additional file.

But this saves time on going to the office or delivering a letter, so it will be easier and faster to get an answer.

That is, if you are simply interested in an answer to a general question or a complaint is sent to the Pension Fund due to a low level of service, then it will be easier and more rational to send it online. But if incorrect charges were made and the visitor wants to recalculate based on available documents, then it is better to bring such requests personally to the office or send them by official letter.

Where to go

Where exactly it would be most logical to send the appeal depends on its essence. If a citizen has been poorly served, he should contact the head of the department in the area. For all other questions, you can contact higher authorities if a citizen is denied any legal right locally.

The number of requests that can be sent is not limited by any rules. Therefore, anyone has the right to file as many complaints as they see fit.

If it was not possible to achieve justice, then the citizen can file a claim in court in the usual manner. Many lawyers believe that this is the most effective way to resolve any dispute.

A common misconception among many visitors to Pension Funds is that they consider legal proceedings to be permissible only in cases where the dispute cannot be resolved amicably. In fact, going to court is not always an obvious conflict with an organization. In some cases, even the fund employees themselves recommend going to court.

The reason is that there are obvious controversial points in the legislation. Although, as a general rule, it is assumed that laws should not contradict each other, sometimes such contradictions are possible.

In this case, the employees of the Pension Fund do not have enough authority to resolve the controversial issue at their own discretion and then it is permissible to resolve the issue only on the basis of a court decision.

Sometimes situations arise with outright fraudulent actions (for example, someone, using the documents of a specific person, has issued payments to himself or provided a fake power of attorney to receive them). In these situations, you need to contact the prosecutor's office or the police.

Submission deadlines

It is recommended that you file a complaint as quickly as possible. This is in the interests of the applicant himself, as it allows him to eliminate the violation in a short time and receive the desired payments.

It should be understood that any financial claims against the Pension Fund have a standard statute of limitations. As a general rule, it is 3 years. If any additional payment is not paid for a longer time, then the applicant has the right to file a claim in court or address claims to the Pension Fund at any time, but he can only count on payment for the last 3 years.

If we talk about complaints about poor quality service, then the appeal should be sent as soon as possible. Although there is no clear time frame in this case, it is still recommended to take action before the dispute loses its relevance.

Any complaint that is received by the Pension Fund must be registered within 3 working days of submission. From this date, the time allocated for its consideration begins to count.

As a general rule, the period for consideration of a complaint is 10 days, but in some cases the period may be increased if there are objective reasons. At the same time, if the period is increased, the applicant must be informed about this by an official notification.

They must also inform you if, for any reason, consideration of the application is refused - they must notify you of this within 7 days after registration of the document.

Drawing up a complaint

When a complaint is made to the Pension Fund, special attention should be paid to its content and format.

If we talk about standard complaints against a specialist due to his unprofessionalism, then there are no clear requirements - the appeal is drawn up like any document and should simply contain a detailed statement of the problem.

But for applications with financial requirements, more stringent parameters are provided that you need to pay attention to.

Sample document

Information about the parties to the dispute

Address and name of the Pension Fund administration, as well as contact information of the applicant

Essence of the question

It is necessary to present the problem, starting from the very first point relevant to the case.

Here it is necessary to set out in detail everything that the applicant wants to receive from the Pension Fund authorities. If financial claims are presented, it is necessary not only to indicate the final amount, but also to provide detailed calculations (for what period and what amounts must be paid). If possible, references should be made to additional regulatory documents that confirm the applicant’s right to satisfy the requirements.

Attached documents

Without this clause, the appeal may be accepted for consideration, but a complaint with supporting documents has a much greater chance of satisfaction than unfounded requests. Therefore, it is better to provide copies of all materials on the case. They should be additionally listed in the text of the complaint itself.

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To give additional formality to the document, you can specify the details of each document. If appeals have already been sent to the Pension Fund, then when filing a complaint with higher authorities, it is necessary to focus on this. This can be indicated both in the text of the appeal itself, and an additional copy of the complaint and the response to it can be attached.

Even if no specific explanations were provided, in any case attempts to peacefully resolve the dispute should be pointed out.

Sample complaint to a pension fund

If we talk about statements of claim to the court, they are filed precisely according to the standard algorithm for filing claims.

Here it is necessary to indicate the price of the claim (the amount of the declared financial claims), include a request to recover legal costs from the defendant, and also be sure to include in the document a clause about attaching a receipt for the state fee.

There are no special requirements for such claims, and they can be filed in the standard manner, like any other financial claims.

Compilation rules

In addition to the strict list of mandatory items that must be included in the appeal, it is also necessary to follow additional recommendations for drawing up such appeals:

Even if the complaint is submitted in person or sent by mail, it is recommended to type it on a computer. When writing by hand, the applicant has the right to refuse consideration if it is not possible to make out the essence of what was written due to poor handwriting.
The complaint should be written in a strict business style. If you use obscene language or make threats, the applicant will also be denied consideration.
It is necessary to present the essence of the issue strictly on topic; all events are described in chronological order. Please do not include any personal thoughts or descriptions of emotions – just facts. In this case, it is necessary to include as much specificity as possible in the appeal: dates, names and other circumstances relevant to the case.
If the application is submitted personally to the office of the Pension Fund, then it should be provided in two copies - on one of them a note indicating the date of receipt is made. If documents are sent by mail, then an inventory of the contents and a notification of delivery are required.
Although the document should be drawn up in the most restrained style, it is still possible to highlight any additional important points. You can use bold or underline to do this. These techniques are even welcome, especially if the complaint contains too much text. People deal with applications, and therefore it can sometimes be difficult to understand what exactly the applicant wanted to focus on. For this reason, it is better to independently highlight the most important points in the case.