SSS to members with unpaid loans: Avail of loan penalty condonation

The Social Security System (SSS) on Wednesday urged members with unpaid short-term loans to avail of the agency’s penalty condonation program.

In a statement, SSS executive vice president for investments sector Rizaldy Capulong said members with past-due loans can regain their good credit standing with the pension fund through the Consolidation of Past Due Short-Term Member Loans with Condonation of Penalty (Conso Loan).

Under the Conso Loan program, the private sector workers’ pension fund will waive the penalties for unpaid loans.

The SSS will combine the principal and interest of a member’s past-due short-term member loans into one consolidated loan, while all unpaid penalties shall be consolidated and condoned or waived upon full payment of the consolidated loan.

“We listen to the clamor of our members, one of which is to offer a condonation program for those who have past-due loans,” Capulong said.

Capulong said that members with outstanding loan obligations in their salary, calamity, emergency, and restructured loans, including the Salary Loan Early Renewal Program (SLERP), are qualified to avail of the program.

“We want to persuade our members with unpaid loans to grab this opportunity to pay their past-due loans without penalties through an easy payment scheme. We launched this program as a relief to our members who find it challenging to fulfill their loan obligations with the SSS. This offer is available while the program lasts,” he said.

The SSS official added that interested members must meet the following requirements to qualify for the program:

have a past-due short-term member loan at the time of their application
have not been granted any final benefit, such as permanent total disability or retirement
have not been disqualified due to fraud committed against the SSS
have an active My.SSS account

Capulong said members may submit their application for the Conso Loan program online through their My.SSS account.

“Members may pay their consolidated loan through a one-time payment within 30 calendar days after receiving the approval notice, or they may also opt to pay through installment,” he said.

For the installment scheme, Capulong said members must pay a downpayment equivalent to at least 10% of the consolidated loan within 30 calendar days after receiving the approval notice.

The remaining balance can be paid for up to 60 months, wherein the length of the installment term depends on the amount of the unpaid loan.

However, Capulong said that if the member fails to meet the payment terms based on the consolidated loan agreement, the SSS will deduct the outstanding balance of the consolidated loan from the short-term benefits (sickness, maternity, or partial disability benefit claims) and final benefits (permanent total disability, death, or retirement), as authorized by the Social Security Commission (SSC).  

He added that the outstanding balance of the consolidated loan can also be deducted from the death benefit of the members’ beneficiaries or deducted from the actual final benefit claims.

As of December 2023, more than half a million members have availed of the Conso Loan program, and SSS has already condoned more than P7.3 billion in loan penalties, Capulong said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News