The member had recently moved from work-related benefits to employment when she was injured at work. She applied for sick pay, and her employer advanced sick pay for about six months while NAV processed the application. 

Applied for the wrong benefit and received a large claim 

When the decision finally came, she was rejected. The reason was that she had not accrued the right to sick pay because she had recently been on AAP. The rejection triggered a large repayment claim from the employer, and the member was in a very demanding financial situation. 

NAV gave misleading information 

The main rule at NAV is that you normally cannot be granted a benefit before you have applied for it. This meant that the member initially did not receive AAP for the period she had applied for sickness benefit. 

YTF appealed the decision and pointed out that NAV had not guided the member well enough. – She had contacted NAV herself to ask about the status of her sickness benefit application. In our opinion, NAV should have picked up on this conversation that work assessment allowance could be the right benefit, since she had recently been on AAP, explains Jeannette Kvamme, YTF's lawyer on the case. – We filed a complaint and asked NAV to reconsider the decision.   

The NAV Appeals Board agreed with the complaint, and the result was that the member received the AAP backdated from the day she called NAV, which was almost four months before she discovered the error in the denial of sickness benefits.  

– Unfortunately, the member had to repay the sick pay she had been paid in advance by her employer because they did not receive a refund from NAV, and then the arrears she received from NAV came in handy, says Kvamme.  

Major consequences of lengthy case processing 

– This case shows how important it is that NAV provides clear and correct guidance when people contact it. When it has been a short time since a person has been on AAP, NAV must consider whether sickness benefit is actually the correct benefit. Here, the member suffered major financial consequences from the long case processing time and inadequate guidance, and therefore it was right that AAP was granted from the time she first contacted NAV, says Kvamme. 

The case also shows a challenge that many people may face: You can receive sick pay in advance from your employer in good faith over a long period of time, only to be denied by NAV long after. When the processing time is long, the risk of large settlements and demanding financial situations for the individual increases. 

You can do this if you are unsure of proper performance

– Contact NAV early and ask for guidance on which benefit suits your situation.
– Note the date of contact and what is said
– Respond quickly if you receive a rejection or a refund request
– Contact us YTF for assistance if you believe you have received inadequate guidance or the wrong decision