The Superior Court of Justice of the Valencia Community confirms that a woman must repay 10,389.30 euros to SEPE because her husband's pension raised the household income above 75% of the minimum wage, a requirement to access the Active Insertion Income.
A woman with a disability and unemployed received the Active Insertion Income (RAI) from SEPE for almost two years, but she must now fully repay the 10,389.30 euros received. The reason: her husband's pension, which ranged from 1,745 to 1,893 euros per month, exceeded the income limit set to access this aid.
The case, resolved by the Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencia Community in its ruling STSJ CV 1650/2026, dated March 31, 2026, confirms that the beneficiary failed to meet the income requirement from the very beginning. The regulations require that the sum of the income of all household members, divided by the number of residents, does not exceed 75% of the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI).
The SEPE's error does not exempt from repayment
The woman applied for the RAI in February 2022 and received it within a few days. A year later, in January 2023, she requested reinstatement and it was also granted. However, SEPE did not timely detect that her husband was receiving a pension that alone pushed the household income well above the legal limit.
The beneficiary's defence argued that it was the public agency itself that made the error by approving the aid without properly verifying the household income. They invoked the doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights, which, in certain cases, protects citizens against administrative errors when there has been no bad faith.
But the judges considered that her situation does not fit within that protective umbrella. Although the woman submitted the tax return for the previous year when requesting the second extension—a document that already reflected gross household income exceeding 24,000 euros annually—the court emphasised that she had the obligation to report the actual income of her entire family unit from the very first application.
“The amount of the husband's pension was so high that the benefit could not be considered an essential resource to cover basic subsistence needs,” the ruling states.
What does this ruling mean for other RAI recipients?
The judicial ruling sets an important precedent for those receiving the Active Insertion Income or any other benefit subject to the income threshold. The ruling makes it clear that the administration's error does not exempt the beneficiary from their duty to correctly declare all household income, including that of the spouse or cohabitants.
In this case, the woman did not hide her husband's name on the forms, but she also did not explicitly declare his retirement income in the first application. Had she done so, the benefit would likely never have been granted. The ruling confirms the revocation of the administrative resolutions from March 2022 and February 2023, and orders the full repayment of what was received.
For RAI recipients, the lesson is clear: any income from the household, no matter how small, must be reported to SEPE. Otherwise, the risk of having to repay everything received—even years later—is real, and good faith does not always serve as a shield.
An income requirement worth knowing
The Active Insertion Income is designed for unemployed individuals with special difficulties in finding work, such as people with disabilities, those over 45 years old, or long-term unemployed. To access it, the monthly income of the family unit must not exceed 75% of the SMI, which in 2026 amounts to 1,134 euros per month (14 payments). This means that the limit for a two-person household is about 850.5 euros per month on average per person.
In the case judged, the husband's pension far exceeded that threshold, making the aid incompatible. The ruling is already final, and the woman must repay the money, although SEPE could allow for payment in instalments or agree on a repayment plan if the debtor's financial situation justifies it. Interested parties can consult their specific case at SEPE offices or through their electronic headquarters.
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