Claiming Death/Funeral Benefits at SSS?

They said I was lucky to get my claim within less than two months. Some would have to wait for 10 months or even years. My mom heard through our rumor mongering neighbors that they heard this and that were able to get theirs in two weeks time.

How the hell and why some claims are as quick as lightning to get processed while some would take forever? I really don’t know. Maybe it’s sheer luck for those who got theirs easily and some got stuck with lazy employees.

I overheard a guard commented to an employee processing maternity benefit who was complaining her hands were hurting from the number of papers she needs to process. There is always tomorrow to finish the job”. I wanted to boot that security guard in the ass to show my disapprove of his work attitude. Instead, I just gave him a piercing look . The guard seemed to get that look and he went by his work.

Claiming benefit from the Social Security System (SSS) in the Philippines can really test your patience so you better brace yourself from some lame excuses when you are out there.

Their lame excuses:

… An illustration of bad human resources management:

Excuse #1 The employee assigned to visit funeral parlors to validate deaths had died and therefore we don’t have a personnel to do the job, so your claim is still pending.

First of all, if an employee of a servicing company dies does it mean that all pending clients who needs to go through him will also die with him? Absolutely NOT!

Excuse #2The funeral parlor said they do not accept phone inquiry.

Obviously they don’t and they know this too, how can someone from the funeral parlor sign a document of validation if the inquiry was done by phone? Duh!

Excuse #3 The claims analyst, official handling your case had been absent from work for 4 days now and your folder is with her.

If that employee would go AWOL and never ever report to work, does this mean my claim will be forfeited too? It shouldn’t!

Excuse #4 The check is already here, the problem is our manager did not sign it yet to be released.

Uhhh….I just asked the guard earlier where is that employee in that desk who handled my folder from day 1 was, he said she has been absent for a couple of days. Hmmmm… what a coincidence, she is also the manager. Ugh.

Excuse #5 Our main office has not replied to our inquiry yet.

Then, she showed me my folder showing that latest communication with them was August 16 I followed up on September 4, what had transpired in between? Nothing, they let my folder gather dust.

…And a terrible IT system

Excuse #6 The system indicated some funeral claims under your fathers name in the past so we will have to double check this first with our main office.

This issue was resolved 10 years ago. Because if it was not, then my would have not been receiving his SSS pension. This just shows their Jurassic system, actually they are still doing manual checking because employees are still illiterate of the new technology.

Excuse #7 We can’t validate your father’s record right now because our system is offline.

For the record since I started to follow up on my father’s social security benefits your system has been down quite too often. Here is also a thread about SSS being offline most of the time from the Office of the President of the Philippines official website that the people at SSS ignores and continually ignore.

Excuse #8 First, understand that the Social Security Administration is not “out to deny your claim.” The people who decide whether or not you qualify for benefits would just as soon approve your claim as deny it. The problem is, they can only spend a small amount of time on each claim.

Exactly, it’s not their money, it’s the contributors money and his right. But because of anomalies in the past at the SSS bureaucracy, some corrupt SSS employee makes use of a member’s clean record to claim their benefits. My father has 2 funeral claims under his name even before I filed for such claim last July. A claimant like me can spend all day talking and waiting for the SSS employee to process and tell me what else do I need to submit and what to expect rather than have me come every day and follow-up wasting my time and money. It’s not just their time that is precious and hectic.

Excuse #7 The people reviewing claims work in a huge bureaucracy which requires a specific information and documents in file first before approving a claim . The workload is such that they can’t follow up and track down everything they need or have requested. If they don’t have enough information to approve your claim they will simply deny the claim. You can prevent that by staying in touch with the people handling your claim. They will appreciate any help you can give them.

Well yeah that’s why we follow-up but we can’t be there every effing day. And yes I was giving them the help they need because they can’t “contact” the people at the funeral parlor and at the crematory. And she gives me a bull that that’s not their procedure. I was literally giving her my phone to contact those funeral parlor and crematory.

But really all this a bullshit because what I really think is they system is a failure. They think since nobody’s complaining (loud enough) it doesn’t mean their system is alright.

They need a major revamp in personnel and a better IT system that doesn’t go offline half of the time. A claimant should not turn notorious for them to fast track on a claim.

Here is just what I want to say SSS or Social Security System shouldn’t be called as such. Instead, they should be called AntiSocial Insecurity Antisystem.

Nuff said.

23 thoughts on “Claiming Death/Funeral Benefits at SSS?

  1. yeah namatay na lang both parents ko pero di ko pa naclaim yung benefits sa papa ko..

  2. I followed up my death claim for my mother last and I was told via phone follow-up that it has been approved on May 20 and ready for mailing at the post office in QC, since I am residing here at Muntinlupa how long before we can received the check? Will it be thru registered mail or what? I was told at the SSS office in QC that I can expect the check first week of June.

    Thanks

  3. Not all sss staff are like that but most of them does, I know some of them in sss Tierra Nueva Alabang. ang malas dun ka pa natapat.
    sayang May malupet dun na representative si ms.Rowena ☺ sakanya kayo magfile very accomodating.

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