– The legislation is so strict, and it is so difficult to understand, Elisabeth Thoresen sighs. She is a leader in the AAP campaign and talks daily to Nav users who struggle to understand how to find out about the regulations. Tal Nav has taken out for news shows two trends in the last eight years. There has been a sharp increase both in the total demand for repayment of all kinds of Nav benefits, and in the number of disabled people who receive claims because they have lit too much. Claim 1.7 billion back Everyone who has benefits from Nav must pay money back if they get more than they are entitled to. This applies to everything from daily allowance, employment verification allowance, transitional allowance, child benefit and cash allowance, to sickness allowance, disability benefit and old-age pension. The total repayment requirement from Nav has increased from just over NOK one billion in 2014 to NOK 1.72 billion in 2021. That is, an increase of 70 per cent. For 2014, 30,000 people who received various benefits from Nav had to pay back money. For benefits they received in 2021, 73,400 people had to pay back to Nav. At the same time, several of the other benefit groups at Nav have received fewer repayment claims. Nav does not know the reason Performance director Eve V. Bergli says that Nav does not fully know the reasons for the increase in all repayment claims. – These figures vary slightly from year to year. But to be able to say what is the cause of the increase, a larger analysis is needed. The day after the interview, the benefits director sent a clarification in which she pointed to repayment claims from corona benefits of NOK 182 million, NOK 181 million from advances on daily allowances, and NOK 570 million in subsequent settlements for disability. Benefits director Eve V. Bergli at Nav says they need a larger analysis to know more about the reasons why Nav has to demand more and more money back from those who have benefits from Nav. Photo: Bjørn Atle Gildestad / news A little too high income Post-declaration occurs when the tax figures are ready the year after the income was credited to the account and the tax has been paid. Nav then calculates how much the disabled earn over the limit and reclaims part of the annual income if it was higher than expected. The scheme started after the driver’s license reform in 2015, which, among other things, should make it easier to combine work and social security. Then there was also an income limit, and the free amount was reduced from 1 G to 0.4 G. While 11,300 disabled people received claims for NOK 263 million in the subsequent settlement for 2015, 25,500 received claims for NOK 578 million for 2021. Of those who had to pay back last year , received 21,600 claims of less than NOK 50,000. About disability benefits In 2021, there were 373,669 people who received disability benefits in this country: 14% more than in 2015. Of these, just over 61,000 were partially disabled, while around 312,000 received 100 percent disability benefits. Disability insurance must compensate for lost income in the event of permanent work disability. Disability benefit is 66 per cent of the average for the income of the 3 best of the last 5 years before you became ill. Only income up to 6 times the national insurance basic amount (G) (NOK 668,862 in 2023) is included. This gives a maximum of NOK 441,448 in disability benefits at a 100 per cent degree of disability. Nav also set an income limit for everyone with disability benefits. If a disabled person receives an increase in salary and earns more than the income limit and the free amount of 0.4 G, the disability benefit is reduced regardless of whether the increased income is due to an increase in salary in the same position or more hours of work for the same salary. If a disabled person earns more than 80 per cent of the income he had before he became disabled, he shall not receive disability benefit that year, even if the disabled person retains his degree of disability. The average disability benefit in 2015 was NOK 296,500 before tax. In 2019, the disability benefit increased to 299,500, but in 2022 it decreased to 298,500 per person. Partially disabled people can also have partial income in addition to disability benefits. In 2019, disabled people had a total income after tax of NOK 285,200, according to Statistics Norway. Source: Statistics Norway, table 11856 and article on disability (2021) Proposal for the national budget for 2022 The government’s proposal for changes to the National Insurance Act 2021–2022 Nav news has previously told about disabled people who have had to repay money to Nav. They said that they had received better pay, and some had received bonuses or shift supplements. Some have got a permanent job during the year and afterwards paid back the disability benefits they received at the start of the year. Tenfold increase in claims for disabled people Compared to the year before the driver reform, there were ten times as many disabled people who received claims in 2021. For 2014, 2,500 disabled people had to repay money to Nav. For 2021, 26,600 disabled people were told to pay back. Performance director Bergli says Nav needs more knowledge about the increase. – There, too, there will be a need for a larger analysis to say what is to blame. We believe there may be several factors, but do not yet have a precise answer to that.Post-statement from NAV Every four years, NAV checks the income in the tax statement to see if all disabled persons received the correct disability benefit the previous year. If actual income is higher or lower than expected income, NAV makes a new calculation. This is called post settlement. If you have received too little payment, you will receive a subsequent payment. If you have been paid too much, you must pay it back. The post-settlement applies to disability benefits, survivors’ allowances and child allowances. Nav started with post-disability settlements in 2015, after the Storting had changed the rules. Source: Nav In recent years, there have also been many times more and larger late payments from Nav. When the tax return is ready, Nav calculates that some disabled people were paid too little money the previous year. For 2015, Nav paid back NOK 65 million in extra disability benefits to 3,600 disabled people, while almost 14,000 disabled people in total received back payments of NOK 179 million for 2021. Disabled people must report new income Benefits director Bergli explains what is needed for disabled people to release claims from Nav. – Persons with disabilities must report if their income is higher than expected. With the help of the “income planner” on nav.no, you can see what you will be paid and register the change. If you report continuously, you will receive a more accurate payment throughout the year. This means that you will not be required to repay larger amounts, says Bergli. Complicated rules Elisabeth Thoresen in the AAP action knows well how the Nav system works for sick people. When she spoke from Nav, she found several possible reasons for the increase in settlements for more and more disabled people. Many are partially disabled and have some work in addition. They themselves have to calculate their expected income before the money is used, including next year’s salary with payroll, shift allowance and other one-off income. The numbers indicate that many disabled people find it difficult. If the disabled person reports income above the income limit and the exemption amount, Nav cuts the payments. – It is not easy to keep track of this here. There is ‘compensation rate’ and ‘0.4 G’ and income planners that you have to put the right number in. You don’t know what you will get in salary and what the expected income is during a year, she says. Elisabeth Thoresen in the AAP action believes that the speech from Nav shows that the non-driver form does not build on the work line. Photo: Beate Riiser – Free amount too low Several of news’s sources have said that they would rather say no to a salary statement than receive a demand for repayment from Nav. They like to belong in a workplace and stand up for colleagues and employers, even if their health means that they cannot work full-time every day, every year. These are stories Elisabeth Thoresen knows well. – It’s the whole system. It should be the case that you were allowed to earn 1 G and did not have to pay attention to this low income limit. Disabled people should be provided with being able to earn what is a normal monthly income for other people, Thoresen believes. She also believes that several disabled people have stopped working or report too high an income in order to avoid receiving payment demands after the salary has arrived in the account. – Driver reform has not been lucky. It does not build on the work line. When people do not have an income that allows them to meet repayment requirements, it can prevent them from being able to work in good periods where they could have worked a lot, she believes.
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Nav has tenfold claims for repayment from disability since 2014 – news Vestland
