Is it necessary to transfer pensions when changing place of residence?
For people of retirement age, the circumstance associated with the timely payment of pensions and other social benefits is important. Many of them are wondering about the need to notify the Pension Fund about the move. Let's look at these nuances in more detail.
- When changing place of residence within the same locality. If the move is limited to one locality, the pensioner will continue to receive his pension in full. In addition, he can count on all the required indexations, increases and social benefits associated with his status. However, it should be taken into account that if a personal visit to the Pension Fund is necessary, he will need to contact the department where his payment file is kept, that is, at his old address. Therefore, if the locality is quite large and has, say, a regional division, then it is still advisable to notify the Pension Fund when moving within it.
- When changing your place of residence within the country. When moving from one region to another, citizens who receive a pension must notify the territorial bodies of the Pension Fund about this. This is due to the fact that different regions of the federation have different social allowances. Thus, moving may entail a change in the amount of material support, both up and down. If the Pension Fund discovers an “overpayment”, it will oblige the pensioner to return the funds he received in excess. In practice this happens in
- When moving outside the country. If a Russian pensioner decides to move to another state for permanent residence, then he can count on receiving the pension he has earned, even while living abroad. However, in this case, he is deprived of the rights to all required social allowances and benefits. When emigrating, the pension fund will be notified after the fact. In addition, to continue payments, the pensioner must provide current information about himself to the Pension Fund once a year. This can be done either by mailing the relevant certificate or by appearing at a Russian consular office abroad. This information, in fact, is necessary to confirm that the pensioner is alive.
Error in pension case
The old-age pension is assigned for an indefinite period - but this does not mean that the Pension Fund does not have the right to check the correctness of its calculation many years after the appointment.
And it is quite possible that after such a check, errors may be identified and the pension will be recalculated downward.
Most often, such situations arise just after a move: the pension file is transferred to another Pension Fund department at the place of the pensioner’s new residence.
And when registering a newly received case, PFR specialists conduct a full audit of it, since they will be responsible for it if the audit reveals an overpayment.
There is an example when, having moved from the Irkutsk region to Buryatia, a woman lost 20% of her pension, because during an audit it was discovered that the calculation of the salary coefficient was incorrectly applied in the amount of 1.4, when it was supposed to be 1.2 (decision of the Sayan City Court of the Irkutsk Region, case No. 2-1047/2013).
Of course, moving a pensioner will not always result in a reduction in his pension.
But it is worth considering these three most typical cases when this is possible. Unlock access to the private part of Clerk with a Premium subscription. Get hundreds of webinars and online courses, unlimited consultations and other proprietary content for accountants.
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How to transfer pension
So, it has been determined that when changing place of residence, it is necessary to transfer the pension. Next we will talk about the features of translation when moving exclusively within the country.
When changing place of residence, a pensioner is required to contact the pension fund with a corresponding application.
It can be submitted in the following forms:
- By personal contact. Documents must be submitted to the fund branch located at the new place of residence.
- Through the multifunctional center. MFCs also accept documents related to pension provision. However, the processing time for papers sent through the multifunctional center is longer than when applying directly to the pension fund office.
- Through the Internet. The fastest and most convenient way to apply for a transfer is to use the opportunities provided by the State Services portal. In addition, it is permissible to send an electronic document through your personal account on the official website of the state pension fund.
Important! To be able to send applications to the Pension Fund in electronic form, you must have a registered and verified account on the State Services portal.
In addition, when moving, the pensioner must decide on the method of delivering funds to him.
Let us remind you that today you can receive a pension:
- Through Russian Post branches. Remains the most popular. The money is delivered to the pensioner in cash to their home or issued directly at the post office.
- To a bank card. The money comes directly from the pension fund to the social card. You can use it to pay for purchases in stores, pay for utility bills, etc. If necessary, cash is withdrawn from the card at an ATM.
Starting from 2021, payments of pensions, social benefits and other payments from the state are made only to plastic cards of the MIR system. However, if a pensioner is already using a card from another payment system, then he can continue to receive money on it until the “plastic” expires.
