Disabled man received an additional back payment of his pension in the amount of 1.030.000 CZK after the intervention of the Ombudswoman

The Ombudswoman received a complaint from a man who had been severely physically and mentally ill since his childhood with no hope to ever recover. His disability pension has been for years very low (about CZK 3,000/EUR 120 per month) which was the reason why he decided to turn to the Ombudsman.

During the inquiry of the Ombudswoman, several deficiencies in the process of assessment of the severity of the man’s illness were found. Namely, it was unclear how the assessment doctor came to conclusion that the man had become partially disabled as of 2007. Neither she nor the other assessment doctor in 2008 addressed the possibility that his disability might have arisen prior to 2007; the records did not show that they had requested additional documents or examinations, despite medical reports indicating that he had already been undergoing psychiatric treatment since 2000.

The Czech Social Security Administration responded to the Ombudswoman’s inquiry by ordering an extraordinary medical re-examination focused on the possibility of determining an earlier date of disability. The new medical report found that the man had already been partially disabled since 2000 and fully disabled from 2008.

As the date of partial disability moved back to when the man was only 16 years old, he met the requirement for awarding the pension in extraordinary cases which is subject to a special method of assessing the amount of pension. According to the new Czech Social Security Administration’s assessment, the man should have received a partial disability pension of CZK 3,150 from the year 2000 and full disability pension in the amount of CZK 9,500 since 2008. Taking adjustments into account, the man’s disability pension was assessed in the amount of CZK 12,000 with an additional back payment of pension for the period since 1 January 2006 in the amount of CZK 1,030,000 (even though the man has been entitled to pension since the year 2000, the law only permits back payment for the period since 1 January 2006).

The Czech Social Security Administration had responded immediately after it was contacted by the Ombudswoman. Therefore, a solution to the complainant’s problem was found very quickly.