– I have felt so desperate. The meeting with Nav has been like hitting a wall, says Bjørn Halvor Kvilhaug to news. For many years, Kvilhaug has tried to get hold of important papers from Nav. There are papers related to medical history and an occupational injury case following an accident at work in the late 1980s. Papers that he knew Nav previously had. – We have done too bad a job, we haven’t found the papers, and we apologize for that, says director Pia Høst in Nav Family and Pensions to news. AFRAID NAV HAD MISSED PAPERS AWAY: Bjørn Halvor Kvilhaug lives in Hå in Rogaland and contacted news because Nav was unable to find the papers he needed. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sævereide / news – Felt Nav deleted my life In 2010, Kvilhaug moved from Sandnes to Hå in Rogaland. He then got a new Nav office to deal with. Eventually Kvilhaug understood that Nav no longer had his papers. Nav confirms that Kvilhaug has been in contact with them to find the papers since 2014. He himself believes that he has requested the papers from Nav since 2010. Kvilhaug says that in all these years he was in contact with Nav several times to get his papers . He wanted to find out if he should be covered more by expenses for treatment and transport to health services. Contact with Nav made Bjørn Halvor Kvilhaug feel worthless. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sævereide – They found nothing on me. Nothing about the occupational injury, no decision, nothing was there in Nav. I have felt like I was a zero. I felt that Nav erased my life, he says about the contact with Nav during these years. In April 2024 at the latest, Kvilhaug received a letter from Nav stating: “We have gone through our physical and digital archives, and unfortunately cannot find the documentation you are requesting.” They recommended that he contact the healthcare system in the hope that they could have taken care of the papers in their own archives. NAV LETTER: Bjørn Kvilhaug received this letter in April. The content was discouraging to him. Photo: news Nav apologizes for the experiences Bjørn Kvilhaug has had. – I am very sorry that he has had that experience with Nav. It shouldn’t be like that. And I can’t really say anything other than I’m very sorry. In this matter, we have not done a good enough job, and we apologize for that, says Høst i Nav Familie og pension to news. SORRY: Director Pia Høst in Nav apologizes and says that she understands that the case has been a burden. Photo: Anne Cecilie Remen / news Law professor: – Serious Professor Anne Kjersti Befring in jurisprudence at the University of Oslo reacts to what she hears. – It is serious that Nav does not have an overview of and order in old archives. There is no public body that has such wide access to sensitive information about people as Nav, says Befring. The duty to archive is also based on societal considerations and opportunities to gain knowledge about NAV’s practice, emphasizes Befring: – Consideration of the individual’s privacy dictates that there must be control over these documents. Users of Nav should be able to gain insight into their own information, which requires that it is archived in a proper way that ensures availability at a later time, says Befring. But Bjørn Kvilhaug has not experienced such accessibility. SERIOUS: Law professor Anne Kjersti Befring believes it is very serious that Nav does not have an overview and control over old archives. Photo: Universitetet i Oslo (UiO) – I was thinking, my papers could have been deleted. When Kvilhaug was told by Nav in April that they still couldn’t find his papers, it was a few weeks before news had a report in May that Nav’s internal audit in a random sample revealed that a paper archive at Nav Rogaland had been lost. – I looked at the news case about the paper archive that was gone, and thought, what the hell, it could have happened to my papers too, says Kvilhaug. The years had passed without Nav being able to find Kvilhaug’s papers. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sævereide He then contacted news and then Nav. According to Kvalhaug, he told Nav about the contact with news on 21 May. A few days later, Kvilhaug released Nav from his duty of confidentiality, so that Nav could answer questions from news about his case. Found the papers in an old archive Nav still hadn’t tracked down his documents. Kvilhaug took new phones and had meetings with Nav about the occupational injury case. After just over a week, on Thursday 30 May, Kvilhaug received word from Nav that his papers had finally been traced. They were found in the old archive of the National Insurance Agency. The National Insurance Agency has been closed down and is now part of Nav. It took a few more days before Kvilhaug physically received the documents. – I was so relieved, but at the same time I am cursed that this can happen. And if it has happened to me, there may also be others who have experienced the same thing, he says. A relieved Bjørn Halvor Kvilhaug can finally read the papers he has been requesting from Nav for years. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sævereide Nav replied to news on 31 May about the case after the papers had been found on 31 May, and asked for an interview. – I am very happy that we have found his old case now. We are very sorry that it has taken so long and we are very sorry for that. And understands that it has been demanding for him that it has taken so long. The papers were where they were supposed to be, and we have done a poor job here, says Høst. Here are the papers Kvilhaug requested from Nav after being missing for over 10 years. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sæverede Kvilhaug lives in Rogaland, in the same district as the Nav office where the paper archive was lost. But Nav denies that there is a connection. – No, these cases have no connection, says Høst. Nav: – Now we have taken action – What does this say about the legal protection of Nav users that you cannot find the papers you request? – We have a good overview of our archives. This is very unfortunate what has happened in this case, we are incredibly sorry for that. But now we have taken action and made changes so that this does not happen again, says Høst. The Nav director says that in March they set up a separate team in Nav’s service center for people searching for old cases. Those who work there must have expertise in Nav’s archives and systems, and be able to guide people. They say that the inspection service in the Nav contact center will in future check the Swedish National Insurance Agency’s archive for available documents for such requests. May have broken the law – I think it is incredibly important that we take this type of case seriously. And that we both clean up the individual cases, and that we ensure that this does not happen again, says Høst. – Is this case in line with the Personal Protection and Personal Data Act? – Yes, the papers in this case have now been found, so there is no breach of anything now. But in the period where we did not find these cases, there may have been a breach of the Personal Data Act in relation to having available documents, says Høst. Kvilhaug believes that the interest from news was decisive for Nav suddenly finding his papers. With the help of the papers, Bjørn Halvor Kvilhaug will now be able to investigate whether he is entitled to compensation. Photo: Jonas Kroken Sævereide To this the Nav director replies: – I am not aware that it has had anything to do with this case, and of course it shouldn’t. We have done what we can to find the papers, and that Fortunately, we have now done so, she says. Høst elaborates: – I am very happy that the media is putting the spotlight on this type of case. After all, we touch many people’s lives, so it’s nice that you shine a spotlight on this. If we make a mistake, we will of course do what we can to clean it up. Kvilhaug hopes that he will get answers to all the questions, and that it may turn out that he is entitled to more back pay after the occupational injury. – I hope that it will be all right now. At least they must go through it now, they must go through occupational injury compensation and mental compensation. Hi, do you have thoughts or knowledge about this or similar matters? Feel free to send me an email. Interested in all tips, also if you want to remain anonymous. I work a lot with working life, privacy and IT security and also with the fish farming industry. Published 26.06.2024, at 06.42
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– Felt that Nav deleted my life – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
