Pensioner receives a gift of money for his birthday - the social welfare office reacts with harshness
Created: 03/14/2022, 11:58 am
By: Markus Hofstetter
Instead of a celebration, a pensioner received money for the purchase of an e-bike for his milestone birthday.
The well-intentioned gift costs him basic security.
Munich – relatives and friends wanted to make a pensioner happy for his 70th birthday *.
But the good intentions turned into a disaster, as Helena Steinhaus from the sanctions-free association reported on Twitter.
"Hans is a pensioner and is supplemented by basic security (SGB XII).
For his 70th birthday, friends and family wanted to give him a big celebration, but: Corona*.
Instead, 1,600 euros were collected for an e-bike that Hans needs because his car is broken," writes Steinhaus.
This money was transferred to the account of the jubilee, who used it to buy the e-bike.
Social welfare office cuts pensioners' benefits after receiving a gift of money
But not all of them had the social welfare office on their bill.
The authority credited the money in full shortly thereafter, minus an allowance of 50 euros.
This means "that these 1150 euros are now being deducted from his meager basic security every month," complains Steinhaus.
How should pensioners not get a gift?
It would not have been deducted from him if the family had given him the e-bike directly.
Even with Hartz IV*, the regulations on gifts are similar and often lead to gifts of money being offset against the benefits at Christmas and birthdays.
"Why are poor people even making gifts impossible?" Steinhaus ends her post, while also drawing attention to poverty in old age.
Pensioners filed a lawsuit in the social court
As the
WAZ
reports, the case ended up before the social court.
Accordingly, the pensioner's lawyer argued that the gift of money was a "purposeful donation" and should therefore not be counted as income, especially since it was a one-time donation for an anniversary.
In addition, the lawyer cited the regulation of the Federal Employment Agency, according to which one refrains from offsetting if monetary gifts are associated with a specific purpose.
A gift of money, for which he bought an e-bike, was fatal to a pensioner (symbolic image).
© Westend61/imago
The lawyer also criticized the fact that the social welfare office only charged an allowance of 50 euros.
Since several people participated in the gift, such an allowance would have to be granted for each of these people.
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Social Court rejects the pensioner's objection
According to the
WAZ
, the social court that was called rejected the objection after a hardship test.
In this case, therefore, it is not a flat-rate deduction.
According to the definition of income according to § 82 SGB XII, it is legally irrelevant whether money for the purchase of a bicycle or monetary value in the form of the bicycle was handed over.
Changes in personal and economic circumstances must always be stated.
The social court's answer to the question of how the pensioner should now make a living without selling the bike below its value sounds downright cynical.
"In practice, the plaintiff has opportunities to earn income with the help of the bicycle, despite the purchase of a bicycle, with which he can make a living," the
WAZ
quotes from the documents available to the newspaper.
It is about a profitable and sustainable use of the monetary value.
A possible loss of value of the bike and the plight of the pensioner are self-inflicted.
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