Repayment of a debt to a pensioner for the payment of benefits for the free use of housing with heating and lighting

In the fall, Oksana, a pensioner who had worked all her life in rural educational institutions, turned to the lawyers of Caritas Kharkiv, a DRC partner.

According to the first paragraph of the third part of Article 57 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, the state, in accordance with the current legislation, provides free use of housing with heating and lighting within the established norms to teachers working in rural areas, as well as to pensioners who previously worked as teachers in these settlements and live there.

However, for unknown reasons, the payment of benefits stopped more than a year ago, and since the summer of 2023, the woman has repeatedly applied to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, but to no avail. The pensioner had no money for legal aid, and she had already lost hope of a positive solution to her problem until she came across an announcement about the provision of free legal aid by lawyers of Caritas Kharkiv.

As a result of the communication, a request was prepared to the Pension Fund with a request to provide explanations for the existing debt to the pensioner, and in early December the woman was happy to report that the debt to her had been repaid in full.

Provision of free legal aid to the war-affected population in Kharkiv region was made possible thanks to the cooperation of Caritas Kharkiv with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and financial support from the Humanitarian Fund for Ukraine (UHF).