As.com SEPE: how do I know if my benefit request is approved and what to do if it has been rejected?

When a person applies to the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) for an unemployment benefit or subsidy, as well as other financial aid, the agency "is obliged to issue an express resolution in all procedures and to notify the interested person", as explains on his website.

"Once your request for benefits is resolved, you will receive at your address or in the one you have provided us with for notifications, the resolution of the SEPE informing you if your request has been approved or denied, indicating the reasons in the latter case", ensures the SEPE. However, there are other ways to check the status of the request at any time:

- Through the SEPE Electronic Headquarters, in the 'check the status of my benefit' section, although you must have a digital certificate, electronic DNI or cl@ve username and password.

- Through the citizen telephone service, by calling free of charge at 900 81 24 00.

- At the benefits office where the application was submitted, upon request for an appointment, either by phone or on the SEPE website.

What to do if you disagree with the resolution

The SEPE has a term of three months from the date of presentation of the request to issue the resolution. If after this time you have not received it, it can be understood that it has been denied due to administrative silence. It can also happen that the request is denied and you do not agree. In both cases, you will be able to present a "pre-judicial claim". Said claim must be made within a period of 30 days from the notification of the resolution on the requested benefit if it was express or three months from the filing of the request without having received the notification of the resolution.

Next, the SEPE will have forty-five days to answer the claim. If the term passes without an express resolution, the claim will be understood to have been rejected due to administrative silence. In this case, you can file a lawsuit before the Social Court during the following thirty days from which your claim is understood to be denied due to administrative silence.

On the other hand, the agency indicates that you can also file the extraordinary appeal for review when any of the following circumstances occur:

- If there is an error when issuing the resolution that rejects your claim.

- If there are documents of essential value for the resolution of the matter that, even if they are later, demonstrate the error of the appealed resolution.

- If the resolution has essentially influenced documents or testimonies declared false by final judicial sentence, before or after said resolution.

- If the resolution is issued as a result of prevarication, bribery, violence, fraudulent machination or other punishable conduct.

In the first case, you have a period of four years from the date of notification of the contested resolution to file the appeal. In all other cases, the period is three months from the knowledge of the documents or the court ruling.