The National Institute of Social Security confiscated 12,000 euros from the account of a retired man who died in Lanzarote, after an official incorrectly registered his date of death. This has been revealed by the newspaper El Mundo, which also states that, by withdrawing the funds, an overdraft was generated in the account.
According to El Mundo, E.D.Q. died on January 1 in Arrecife at the age of 79, but the date of death that was recorded was January 2, 2019. Thus, he assures that the Social Security believed that his widow had continued to collect for a year after the death and proceeded to withdraw the 12,000 euros from the account "without informing the family or verifying that the dates were correct."
In addition, this newspaper details that the funds were withdrawn despite the fact that there was not enough balance, which caused an overdraft in the account, which was also held by the widow of the deceased, generating an additional expense for the family to cover the bank commission.
Social Security reaction stating that it will return the money
After that, El Mundo affirms that the family went to the Social Security office in Arrecife to explain the situation, hoping that they would return the funds. However, far from giving them a solution, they were referred to the Ministry of Justice, before which the family did not rule out ending up in court.
However, three days after making this news public, El Mundo has published that the Social Security has recognized the "error" and has stated that it will return the 12,000 euros to the family of the deceased. "This is an unfortunate human error that we will correct as soon as possible and we will apologize to the family," they say they have transferred from the National Institute of Social Security, which, however, has not confirmed whether it will also pay the expenses derived from the overdraft it generated.
