If Spain's Social Security has just turned down your claim, whether it is a disability pension, a benefit, or another decision that affects you, you do not have to accept it and you cannot go straight to court either. Spanish law requires an extra step first: the Previous Claim.
The Previous Claim is a document you submit to the Social Security asking them to change or withdraw their negative decision, before the matter can go to court against the administration.
You file it at any Social Security office, either INSS or CAISS. It can also be submitted electronically if you sign it with a digital certificate, which is useful if you are not based in Spain full time.
What the claim needs to include
Your claim must state:
- Your name, address, ID number and phone number.
- If the negative decision relates to something like a Permanent Disability claim against a company, that company's trade name, registered name, address, NIF and phone number.
- A brief, clear description of the facts behind your claim.
- What you are asking for.
Timing matters here. You have 30 working days from the moment the negative decision is notified to you to file the Previous Claim. Once you file it, the INSS then has 45 working days to respond.
Why it is worth having a lawyer handle this
If the INSS rejects your claim, or simply does not reply, your next step is a lawsuit. But here is the catch: any factual or legal errors in your Previous Claim cannot be fixed later in court. Whatever you got wrong at this stage stays wrong. That is why it is worth having a lawyer prepare this claim from the start, rather than trying to correct course once you are already in court.
