A man who wrongly benefited for years from a survivor’s pension was forced to repay 24,000 euros. If the withdrawal pleads an error, the justice did not want to know.
Error or manifest fraud? Anyway, it’s a business, raised by The worldwhich is very expensive for this withdrawal and also for all fraudsters of social benefits: the Court of Cassation now obliges fraudsters reimburse all benefits unduly affected, within the limit of twenty years.
In the context of this case, it all started in 2006. Mr. X, a widower, received a survivor’s pension. At the same time, he asks that the National Old-Age Insurance Fund (CNAV) pays him his personal retirement pension (983 euros gross). Problem, he does not indicate that he will receive a supplementary pension of 473 euros.
But, explain The worldto continue to receive the survivor’s pension, he must prove annual resources not exceeding a certain ceiling, which will be exceeded in May 2009. However, his retirement pension combines with the supplementary pension. Mr X receives a survivor’s pension of approximately 330 euros which he cannot claim, something discovered by the CNAV in 2014 during a check. The National Old-Age Insurance Fund therefore accuses Mr. X of having concealed part of his income in order to continue to receive the survivor’s pension.
24,000 euros to be reimbursed, i.e. 6 years of overpayment
In May 2015, the CNAV therefore asked the withdrawal to reimburse 24,000 euros for the sum improperly received from May 2009 to April 2015. It began to recover this sum on its account, leaving him a sum equal to the active solidarity income (RSA). Mr. X then takes legal action claiming that this fault is the result of an error. His lawyer requests the application of the short prescription that the social security code (article L. 355-3) provides for in this case, and which only authorizes the CNAV to claim two years of undue benefits.
But justice decided otherwise and sided with the CNAV, considering that Mr. X had lied and was therefore guilty of fraud. The magistrates therefore ruled out the short prescription in favor of the five-year prescription provided for by the Civil Code (article 2224). The starting point is then the day of the discovery of the fraud, from which the creditor can recover five years of receivables.
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Faced with this decision, the CNAV is appealing in cassation, considering that this five-year period is not sufficient. The CNAV lawyer maintains that, since the reform of the prescription of June 17, 2008, it is a deadline of twenty years (registered in article 2232 of the civil code), which limits the recoverable period so that an action initiated after thirty years of fraud can only recover twenty years of debt.
Based on this, the CNAV therefore requests recovery over the entire fraud period, i.e. a little less than 24,000 euros (330 euros per month for 6 years). For his part, Mr. X’s lawyer believes that to claim twenty years of benefits from the insured would be to want his civil death; he would only have the RSA to live on. Moreover, the latter would see the ordinary law of the prescription of crimes applied, even though his bad faith has been insufficiently characterized.
Nevertheless, in a decision rendered on May 17, 2023, the Court of Cassation ruled in favor of the CNAV. Mr. X will therefore have to repay the entire sum, unless the legislator decides to limit the right of recovery of creditors.