Blind money
July 23, 2009 | 25,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
Dear Sir or Madam,
Since April 1, 1999, my mother (born on September 1, 1914) has been receiving monthly blind allowance from the Westphalia Lippe Regional Association.
http://www.lwl.org/LWL/Soziales/Sozialhilfe/start/Hilfe_Blinde_Gehoerlose/blind_sehbehindert/
From April 1, 2004 to January 29, 2009, she received care level I while receiving home care.
As of February 1, 2009, my mother is now in a senior home.
Only now have I received notification from the LWL that the entitlement to blind allowance is reduced by 50% when receiving simultaneous benefits from long-term care insurance. I was not aware of this. When applying for care level I, I was not aware of any point in the form that indicated blind allowance payments or similar social benefits.
Now LWL is demanding the repayment of overpaid benefits. This amounts to a total of 9,232.00 euros.
Question: Can LWL demand repayment of the benefits paid retroactively from April 1, 2004?
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry!
I would like to address your questions as follows, taking into consideration your contribution and the description of the facts you provided:
1.) Can the LWL demand retroactive payment for the period from 01.04.2004?
Unfortunately, a definitive answer to this question is not possible from a distance, as all necessary documents, especially the LWL decisions, would need to be reviewed.
In principle, blind support is to be offset against the benefits of long-term care insurance and comparable benefits from private long-term care insurance. Therefore, the recovery of payments in principle may not be unjustified.
Nevertheless, it can be definitively answered from a distance whether the LWL may reclaim overpaid amounts for the period from 01.04.2004 retrospectively.
If the amounts were paid unjustly, they can generally be reclaimed under the principle of unjust enrichment.
I would like to remind you of the following:
The legal advice I have provided is based solely on the information you have provided. My response is only an initial legal assessment of the situation and cannot replace a comprehensive evaluation of the circumstances. Adding or omitting relevant information can lead to a completely different legal assessment.
I hope that my explanations have been helpful to you. Feel free to contact me through the follow-up option on this portal or via my email address.
Have a pleasant Thursday evening!
Kind regards,
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney at Law
Heilsbergerstr. 16
27580 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Tel. 0471/3088132
Fax: 0471/3088316
