November 25, 2014

GSIS POLICY AND PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES NO. 267-14

 

I. Background/Rationale

Funeral benefit is granted by the GSIS to assist the family of a deceased member or pensioner when financial assistance is urgently needed. The benefit is intended to help defray the expenses incidental to the burial and funeral of the deceased member, pensioner or retiree under Republic Act (RA) 660, RA 1616,Presidential Decree (PD) 1146, and RA 8291.

From the original Php1,000.00 approved under P.D. 1146 in 31 May 1977, the amount of the funeral benefit has increased over the 24-year period as follows:

Amount	Board Resolution	Issuance Date
Php4,000.00	293	27 July 1989
6,000.00	469	08 November 1990
10,000.00	236	10 June 1993
12,000.00	324	31 July 1997
15,000.00	429	20 October 1998
18,000.00	132	01 January 2000
20,000.00	154	01 January 2001

The benefit is usually paid prior to processing of any other claim of the deceased member.

II. Objectives

This PPG aims to:

1. Provide clear-cut policies in the grant of funeral benefit to qualified individuals or beneficiaries of covered members; and

2. Ensure uniform guidelines for the implementation of the grant of funeral benefits.

III. Policies

A. Contingency for the Payment of Funeral Benefit

 The funeral benefit shall be paid upon the death of:

1. A member who:

a. died while in active service; or SaTAED

b. although separated from government service, is entitled to future separation or retirement benefits under Section 11 ("Separation Benefits") or 13 ("Retirement Benefits") of R.A. 8291, respectively, subject to the provisions of Section III.D of this PPG; or

c. retired under RA 1616 prior to 24 June 1997 with at least 20 years of service, regardless of age; or

d. retired under RA 1616 on or after 24 June 1997, with at least 20 years of service, and is at least 60 years of age at the time of his/her retirement.

2. An old-age or disability pensioner.

B. Qualified Beneficiaries

 The funeral benefit shall be payable to any qualified individual, in accordance with the following order of priority:

1. Surviving legitimate spouse;

2. Any of the following persons who can present receipt/s, provided that the surviving spouse has acknowledged that this person shouldered the funeral expenses:

a. Children of the deceased member or pensioner; or

b. For single deceased member or pensioner, relatives up to second degree of consanguinity; or

c. Any other person who can show incontrovertible proof that he or she shouldered the funeral expenses of the deceased.

3. If there is no surviving spouse, any of the persons enumerated under the preceding paragraph, provided that claimant presents receipt/s to show proof of payment of the deceased member's funeral expenses.

 In case the deceased member, during his/her lifetime, contracted marriage to different persons, and the spouses filed separate claims for the payment of the funeral benefit, the said benefit shall be payable to the surviving spouse with the earlier date of marriage based on the National Statistics Office (NSO)-issued Marriage Contract.

C. Amount of Funeral Benefit

 The amount of funeral benefit shall be the prevailing amount approved by the Board of Trustees at the time of death of the member, pensioner or retiree. 1 It is fixed and shall be the amount to be paid by the GSIS regardless of the actual costs of funeral and burial expenses presented by the claimant.

 Effective 1 January 2001, the amount of funeral benefit shall be Php20,000.00; except for uniformed members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) where funeral benefit is fixed at Php10,000.00.

D. Prescriptive Period

 The funeral benefit shall prescribe when the claim is not filed within four (4) years from the date of contingency, however, the rule on constructive filing under Section III.H of this PPG shall apply in case there is also a filed claim for survivorship benefit.

E. Documentary Requirements

 The following are the basic documentary requirements to support the claim for funeral benefit: 2

1. Claimant is the Surviving Spouse: EHcaDT

a. Duly accomplished Application Form for Funeral Benefit;

b. Original copy of Death Certificate of member issued by the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) or NSO;

c. Marriage Contract of deceased member with the surviving spouse issued by LCR or NSO; and

d. GSIS eCard, if the surviving spouse is a GSIS member; or

e. If surviving spouse is not a GSIS member, Birth Certificate issued by NSO or LCR, or two (2) government-issued valid IDs with date of birth and signature;

f. If the surviving spouse is separated from the deceased member, an affidavit stating that the surviving spouse has been abandoned by/separated from the deceased, and attested by two (2) disinterested persons. 3

2. Claimant is Other than the Surviving Spouse:

a. Duly accomplished Application Form for Funeral Benefit;

b. Original copy of Death Certificate of member issued by LCR or NSO;

c. Original copy of Death Certificate of the legal spouse of the deceased member issued by LCR or NSO, if the latter is married;

d. If legal spouse is living, notarized waiver in favor of the claimant and two (2) government-issued valid IDs bearing the signature of the legal spouse;

 In case the legal spouse cannot be located, an affidavit stating that despite exerting earnest efforts, the legal spouse cannot be located to sign a notarized waiver in favor of the claimant and attested by two (2) disinterested persons.

e. Official receipt of funeral expenses issued in the name of the claimant;

f. GSIS eCard, if the claimant is a government employee;

g. Original copy of Birth Certificate issued by NSO or two (2) government-issued valid IDs with date of birth and signature, if the claimant is not a government employee.

F. Claim for Funeral Benefit of a Deceased Muslim Member

 In case a deceased Muslim member has multiple wives as allowed by law, the benefit shall be paid to the surviving spouse who is able to comply with the requirements as enumerated under Section III.E of this PPG. In case all spouses are able to comply with the requirements, all of the spouses shall be entitled to the pro-rata share of the said benefit unless one of the spouses shall secure a notarized waiver from the others in order to claim the whole amount of the funeral benefit.

G. Multiple Claimants for Funeral Benefit

 In the event that the payment of funeral expenses was made by two (2) or more persons who shared the said expenses, the benefit shall be paid to the claimant who will first file the claim and is able to comply with the requirements as enumerated under Section III.E of this PPG. cCaSHA

H. Claim for Survivorship Benefit as Constructive Notice for Funeral Benefit Claim

 The claim for funeral benefit shall be considered a constructive notice for the survivorship benefit claim. In this regard, the claimant shall be properly advised by GSIS that the survivorship benefit shall be processed and paid to the qualified beneficiaries or legal heirs, as the case may be, upon the submission of the NSO-issued Death Certificate and other documentary requirements for the claim of survivorship benefits.

 In the same manner, the filing of survivorship benefit claim shall be considered a constructive notice for the funeral benefit claim, and the claimant shall be properly advised by GSIS that the funeral benefit shall be processed upon the submission of the documentary requirements enumerated under Section III.E of this PPG.

I. Payment of Funeral Benefit

 The proceeds of the funeral benefit shall be subject to the collection policies of the GSIS, as provided under Section III.L ("Recovery of Pension Overpayment and Outstanding Receivables of Deceased Pensioners") of PPG No. 229-13, approved under Board Resolution No. 45 dated 23 May 2013, and Sections 1 and 2 of Office Order No. 216-14 ("Guidelines on the Recovery of Pension Overpayments as Provided for under PPG No. 229-13"), only if the surviving spouse is not qualified to survivorship pension or there is no surviving spouse.

 Specifically, pension overpayments and outstanding receivables of deceased pensioners shall be deducted from the survivorship pension, while funeral benefit shall be paid in full. As such, the crediting back of excess pension payments, if any, shall be processed only after the survivorship benefit claim of the deceased member has been processed.

 The funeral benefit shall be paid through eCrediting for claimants with activated eCards or UMID cards, and through check for inactive member without eCard or UMID cards, or for claimant who is not a GSIS member.

 The claimant shall be informed of the payment of funeral benefit through letter or GSIS text message facility (GSIS 4747), a copy of which shall be attached to the TMS for reference.

J. Benefits for Work-Related Contingencies

 Beneficiaries of a member who died due to a work-related contingency while in active service shall be entitled to receive both EC and GSIS funeral benefits.

 This is in line with the thrust of the GSIS to assist the family of the deceased member during times when financial assistance is urgently needed and to help defray the expenses incidental to the burial and funeral of the deceased member.

K. Data and System Requirements

 The Operations Groups shall prepare the necessary consolidated user requirements (CUR) and undertake user acceptance testing (UAT) to implement this PPG.

 The Information Technology Services Group (ITSG) shall ensure that the necessary program for system adjustments and reportorial requirements are made to conform to this PPG.

 The Internal Audit Services Office (IASO) and Information Security Office (ISO) shall review the CUR and ensure that all internal controls are in place in the system.

L. Information Dissemination

 The Corporate Communications Office shall prepare the information materials to disseminate the implementation of this PPG. cCTaSH

All Office Orders, Circulars, Policy and Procedural Guidelines inconsistent herewith are hereby superseded, modified or repealed accordingly.

This PPG shall take effect immediately after Board approval.

(SGD.) ROBERT G. VERGARAPresident & General ManagerGovernment Service Insurance System

Footnotes

1. Section 25.1 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of R.A. 8291 approved on June 24, 2010.

2. Office Order No. 174-12 ("ID Requirements for One-Time Payment of Funeral Benefits") and Office Order No. 223-14 ("Revised Documentary Requirements for Social Insurance Benefits and Other Related Claims and Transactions").

3. New Requirement.

Published in The Philippine Star on February 21, 2015.