Almost PLN 700 million on sub-accounts at ZUS. Families do not collect funds from the deceased

Almost PLN 1 billion was collected in ZUS on the sub-accounts of insured people who died in recent years, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Although the law provides for the payment of these funds to relatives, in practice over PLN 650 million remains at the state's disposal. Heirs often do not know that they can withdraw contributions collected by a family member, but ZUS cannot always inform them about it.

PLN 659 million of funds are outstanding on sub-accounts at ZUS

The problem of inheriting funds from ZUS sub-accounts was addressed by MP Marta Stożek in an interpellation to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy. Data from the ministry show that in the years 2020–2024, over 42,000 people with subaccounts died, but payments were made only in about 8,000 cases. This means that only every fifth family successfully applied for a refund of money collected by their loved ones.

The total amount secured on the accounts of the deceased over 5 years reached PLN 939 million, but the pool of funds that has still not been paid and is, as it were, “frozen” in ZUS is as much as PLN 659 billion. The difference results not only from the heirs' unawareness of the possibility of paying contributions, but also from the procedures used by officials.

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What rules apply to a sub-account at ZUS?

The ZUS subaccount has been in force since 2011 and applies to people who are members of open pension funds (OFE). They are also available to people born after December 31, 1968, who did not join OFE, but are subject to social insurance. Funds accumulated in subaccounts are of a special nature because, unlike the basic pension contribution, they are subject to division and inheritance.

Contributions are distributed not only at the time of death, but also upon divorce or termination of marital property ownership. In the event of the death of the insured person who was married, half of the funds go to the spouse as part of the division of joint property, the remaining part goes to the persons previously indicated by the deceased, and in the absence of such an instruction, the money is included in the estate. However, the key problem remains that without the initiative of relatives, ZUS does not make payments.

Information about funds in ZUS only for eligible persons

The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, in response to the interpellation, indicates that ZUS and OFE may inform only those persons who have been previously indicated by the insured person in a special instruction about the funds. If the deceased did not fulfill this obligation during his or her lifetime, the authorities do not have information about who should receive the collected funds.

At the same time, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy emphasizes that ZUS undertakes information activities only when contact details of authorized persons are available in the system. The office does not participate in inheritance proceedings and does not have the competence to independently determine the circle of heirs, therefore it is the family of the deceased who should prove that they have the legal title to contributions on subaccounts.

Changes in regulations needed

According to Dr. Marcin Krajewski from the University of Łódź, current regulations need to be changed because the state overestimated citizens' knowledge about the complicated pension system and their powers. The expert quoted by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna proposes introducing mechanisms for periodic verification of the data of entitled persons, which could be done, for example, automatically when reporting to social security. It is also worth considering transferring funds from the subaccount to the spouse if the deceased did not indicate the entitled persons.

Legal advisor Łukasz Chruściel points out that the current model is extremely difficult for people undergoing mourning, because the family after the loss of a loved one rarely analyzes the nuances of the pension system and looks for hidden funds in ZUS accounts. The expert points out that if the state really wants to pay out this money, the information mechanisms should be more developed and automatic.

At the moment, the Ministry is not announcing any changes to the regulations, which means that billions of zlotys may still remain beyond the reach of the heirs.

Prepared by AD

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