The Norwegian Social Security Court believes that Nav has misinterpreted EEA regulations and paid out too little in disability benefits and pensions

The decision in the Social Security Court means that a number of disability and old-age pensioners may have received too little payment, writes The class struggle.

The decision in the Social Security Court concerns a 58-year-old man who has lived and worked in both Norway and Ireland, where he fell ill. Back in Norway, he was declared disabled and was granted disability benefits, but below the level of the minimum rate in the national insurance because Nav did not include the social security period in Ireland in the calculation basis.

The social security court believes that Nav should have included the period of residence in Ireland, and granted the man 100 per cent of the minimum pension, not 80 per cent. Both disability pensioners and old-age pensioners who have lived abroad may thus have been paid too little by Nav as far back as 1994. It is not known how many people this may concern.

Lawyer Martin Ølstadløkken at Huseierne’s law office in Trondheim believes the verdict could have consequences for many people and questions the fact that Nav has interpreted the rules incorrectly for so long.

– It is written in black and white in Article 58 of the Social Security Ordinance that you cannot provide a benefit that is lower than the minimum benefit in the country that is to pay the benefit. How this could have been overlooked for so long for those who need this most is very strange and gross, he tells the newspaper.

Lawyer Olav Lægreid has led the case for the disabled man in both the Social Security Court and the EFTA Court, and believes the verdict will have major consequences.

– I now expect Nav to change its decision-making practice. The decision in this case sends a signal that Nav cannot count on being successful in similar cases in the future, he says.

Neither Nav nor the Ministry of Labor and Inclusion wish to comment on the verdict for the time being, but inform the newspaper that they are considering appealing the case to the Court of Appeal. The appeal deadline is 17 March.