Like everyone else, the internet has been my immediate source of information when I started processing claims arising from my mother's death. But as expected, accuracy of information is not guaranteed, even from the official website of the government agency. Processing my mother's death claim from SSS was so far, the most patience testing experience I had with a government agency. I started the efforts last December 2021. SSS finally declared our documents complete last March 2022. My father and brother's claim were finally credited to our bank account this month. 

I'm making this post in the hope that other people will learn from my experience. I hope I can save another individual from having endless trips to this government agency. 

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As of date, this is the death claim form used by SSS. I strongly recommend printing your own form than securing a copy from any SSS branch. From experience, some branches do not have stocks of printed forms. In some cases, the security guard will tell claimants to download and print their own forms. 

I also advise checking the updated SSS forms from their website. In the future, this form may eventually be revised and updated. 

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The requirements needed in filing for a death a claim are stated the back of the form. I prepared these documents, brought my Dad with me and woke up early to submit these documents at the nearest SSS branch. I thought we were doing well, not until the SSS teller informed us of additional documents, which I have detailed below. 

Requirements declared in the Form 

1. Birth Certificate of the Deceased Member 

2. Death Certificate of the Deceased Member

3. Marriage Contract of the Deceased Member 

4. Passbook / ATM Card and Validated Deposit Slip of the Deceased Pensioner's Dependent

5. 1 x 1 Photo of the Deceased Pensioner's Dependent 

6. Valid IDs of the  Deceased Pensioner and the Dependent/s (include photocopy) 

Requirements NOT DECLARED in the form but WILL BE REQUIRED during the branch visit

(Note: Prepare two photocopies of each document)

1. Birth Certificates of the Deceased Member's Qualified Dependent/s - If you read the form, it wasn't clearly stated that even the dependent/s need to submit a PSA copy of their birth certificate

2. CENOMAR (for married pensioners) - You need to acquire separate CENOMAR each for the husband and wife. 

3. Two 1x1 Photo, with WHITE BACKGROUND - One photo will not be enough and please refrain from using photos with colored backgrounds. 

4. Notarized Sworn Statement (Sinumpaang Salaysay) from the dependent, attesting the details of the member's death. You can download it here.  (Note: Please regularly check for updates. I can't guarantee that the link will always be updated). 

5. Notarized Affidavit of Benefit Claim - You can download it here. 

6. DDR Savings Account Form - You can download it here. 

7. Savings account from a local bank, sample of a recent deposit slip, photocopy of the ATM / passbook account  - You can wait for an SSS endorsement /recommendation to open a bank account. We never opted for this. We used my Dad's existing account from RCBC. 

8. Enrollment to SSS portal including the disbursement account declared in the DDR Form - If the dependent has an SSS account, I highly recommend activating the online account and uploading the documents for the enrollment of the disbursement account. This is the part where the dependent has to upload a photo holding the deposit slip, atm / passbok and a valid identification card. 

For dependents without SSS number / registrations, (if I'm not mistaken), you can enroll using your mobile number. 

Overall, there were seven other requirements that were not declared by SSS in the Death Claim Form. We only discovered the other requirements during our initial visit. This is disappointing for many reasons. 

It goes to show that anyone, who will initially attempt to submit the death claim requirements, will have incomplete submission and will cause multiple visits to any branch. It's inconvenient, costly and risky to the pensioners. In like manner, the job performed by the SSS examiner will be doubled. 

All these hassles could have been prevented if the form already contained the complete set of requirements in the first place. 

The case of our family was quite distinct because I have a PWD brother, who remains as a qualified dependent of my mother. In effect, we were asked to provide these additional documents. 

Requirements for those with PWD dependents

1. Option A - Letter from your own doctor, declaring that the dependent is indeed a PWD. The letter will eventually be submitted to the medical doctor of SSS. 

Option B -  Another option is to personally bring the PWD dependent to the SSS branch. We never opted for this since my PWD brother is unvaccinated and bed ridden. 

2. Should you chose Option A, the letter has to be submitted to the medical doctor of SSS. (Note: Not all SSS branches has a medical doctor, you might need to check this beforehand. In our case, we were referred to another branch.). After which, the medical doctor from SSS will issue a certification that the dependent is a qualified for death claim. 

3. PWD ID or valid ID of the dependent. Although there is an advantage of using the PWD ID, as it strengthens the validity of the dependent's disability. 

Side note: Before my mother became a pensioner, a medical representative from SSS had already visited, attested and declared that my brother is already a lifetime PWD. This was quite a surprise because as it appears, the process has to be repeated after my mother's death. 

On the day I submitted our doctor's certificate, the medical doctor from SSS questioned why do I have to redo the submission. According to her, it was already declared in the SSS system that my brother has a lifetime disability. For her, there was no need to repeat the process. Nevertheless, we complied with the requirement. 

When SSS cannot explain the sudden change in the birthdate of my mother in their system.....

All the while, I thought we will be able to finally complete the requirements. Not until, the SSS teller told us that there were discrepancies in my mother's birthdate in the SSS database. 

SSS was claiming that my mother's birthday was changed. This was something I refused to believe because the official SSS ID of my mother and all her valid IDs have the correct and similar birthdates. The SSS teller cannot even explain how come the alteration of my mother's birthday in their database happened. 

In the end, SSS forced us to submit an additional document to establish the correct birthday of my mother. This gave me all the frustration and disappointment. I have to experience the burden of correcting a mistake, which we did not commit in the first place. 

I explained and raised my point but in the end, we complied with the "forced"requirement. We were forced to produce an AFFIDAVIT OF TWO DISINTERESTED PERSONS. 

I searched for sample templates and initially used this sample. But the SSS teller did not accept this template. I then requested if they have a sample template to follow. Unfortunately, the teller told us that they don't issue any sample or template. How frustrating. 

I specifically asked what contents they wish to see in the affidavit. Turns out, they wish to see a clause specifying that 

1. this affidavit was prepared to address the requirement of the Social Security System 

2. this affidavit aims to correct the birth date of (name of the person) from (date of the birthdate in the system) to the (corrected birthdate) 

The affidavit btw, requires two affiants, who should be

1. older than the subject - This was challenging for us because it was too hard to find someone older than my mother, who is not a relative. The affiant should be a non-family member btw. 

2. requires submission of photocopies of the valid IDs used

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Suggestions to SSS

While I'm thankful that we are done with all these hassles and frustrations, I hope the management of SSS will take time to improve their operations, especially among the branches. Of the many times I visited the branch, I witnessed all forms of inconveniences which could have been prevented in many ways.

1. Provide and explain the complete list of requirements - The Death Claim Form uploaded from the SSS website did not clearly specify all the requirements. If only everything was completely specified in the first place, all claimants would have minimized the need for multiple visits. 

Instead of heavy textual presentation, I suggest they present requirements in tabular form. Each column representing the requirements for each case : i.e. 

1.1 Death Claim Requirements for those with Children below 18 years old

1.2 Death Claim Requirements for Husband / Wife

1.3 Death Claim Requirements with PWD dependents 

1.4 Death Claim Requirements for Single Individuals 

2. Instead of tasking the Security Guards to become information / desk officers, SSS might consider delegating other people to assist claimants. There are a lot of out-of-school youths, senior high school students enrolled in practicum subjects, LGUs have SK officials, there are other ways to increase the deployed people to assist the daily bulk of clients. 

Perhaps, instead of implementing mandatory military service, a mandatory community service among government offices can be implemented by DepEd among senior high school students. SSS and other government agencies can benefit from this move. 

3. I hope the management of SSS bears in mind that majority of their clients are senior citizens. Hence, they should design their system to be geriatric friendly. I feel frustrated every time the security guards instruct a senior citizen to access the website, send an email, download and print a form. I hope they remember that not all senior citizens are digitally capable. Some of them don't have children, nieces or nephews to help them. 

4. There is a need to retrain and recondition some SSS employees on customer service. In like manner, they should be cautious of the activities they undertake while on duty. During our visits, I saw the security guards distributing Shopee / Lazada COD orders to the SSS teller on duty. I find this inappropriate, especially for a service oriented government agency. 

5. I hope the SSS tellers would be more compassionate, especially for those filing for death claims. Losing a loved one is already painful. I hope the employees remember that every claimant they meet have undergone all those painful experiences. Being reprimanded and mistreated by a government employee does not contribute anything good.