At the home of the Raastad-Antonsen family, the refurbishment has been put on hold and the car is considered to be sold. Anne Mette Raastad-Antonsen (36) is a young disabled person. She is one of many who, towards the end of the year, have been told by Nav that she owes the agency money. The decision from Nav states that Raastad-Antonsen has been paid NOK 27,536 too much in 2022 in child allowance. The reason: Her husband’s income was too high. Since she does not have this money, Nav will deduct 10 per cent of her disability benefit up to the amount repaid. – In the times that are now, it is hard. Food is expensive, electricity is expensive, says Raastad-Antonsen. She is worried that this will particularly affect the children. Raastad-Antonsen thinks it is hard to be drawn into disability benefits in already tight times. Photo: William Jobling / news Thought everything was in order The 36-year-old thought she was paid the correct amount and that Nav had updated the man’s income based on information they had previously received from the Tax Agency. The year before, she received a decision that amounted to the same thing: The father of the child earned too much. Therefore, she was entitled to NOK 0 in child allowance, and the money she had received had to be repaid. Raastad-Antonsen does not understand why Nav pays out money to which she is not entitled several years in a row. But Nav does not have the opportunity to go in and change the expected income based on what you have earned in previous years. Performance director Eve Bergli says: – Post-settlement takes place automatically. This means that we will not detect that you have had the same relationship for several years in a row. The way the regulations are laid out, it is the user himself who must add income each year. Eva Bergli i is performance director at Nav. She says that they have made an effort to make their letters more understandable for the recipients. Photo: Bjørn-Atle Gildestad At the end of the year, Nav sends out a letter about what income will be used as a basis for next year. – Users are encouraged to report if these incomes do not match, says Bergli. Perceived as inaccessible In the living room at Gran, the mother of three shows dozens of pages of decisions from Nav. She finds the letters with tables, calculations and paragraphs difficult to understand and says she feels powerless. – They hide behind laws and regulations that a private person will not understand, because the decisions are so advanced. The mother of three wants to understand why Nav pays out money, and then demands it back several years in a row. Photo: William Jobling / news The director of performance says that they have worked to make the letters from Nav understandable to the recipient. – We have a responsibility to provide good information and avoid repayment claims. We have had a major review of these letters precisely with the aim of making them more understandable, says Bergli. Raastad-Antonsen wants to understand why Nav pays out money, and then demand it back. But so far she thinks it has been difficult to get in touch with the agency, which she finds neither answers the phone nor requests for physical meetings. – When I received the decision, I contacted Nav. There was then a 45-minute wait, which ended with the phone call being cut off. I tried again, and then there was a 50-minute waiting time, she says.
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– In these times it is hard – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
