OCTOBER 2002

Appeals: the last resort

I went to my first War Pensions Appeal Board in early September. Fortunately for me my predecessor Tere Putland came along to make sure that I got it right.

The Board members proved to be very pleasant, and obviously doing their best to ensure that everyone had a fair hearing. Their depth and breadth of expertise in the areas of medicine and law certainly taught this budding advocate a thing or two. The Board comprises three members, one barrister and solicitor and two doctors.

The cases ranged through all areas of the body from the head to the feet. I have to say that the decisions on all the cases were not necessarily what I had expected, but some of that was down to my lack of knowledge of medical terms, and the causes of some disabilities.

We are all aware that smoking can cause heart disease. However not all heart disease is caused by smoking and so that can make life interesting for your appeals advocate.

I have been told that over the last few years the claims process has become more consistent, and that more veterans are getting their just entitlements for their disabilities. The numbers of reviews of Claims Panels decisions by the National Review Officer (NRO) are reducing and so there are fewer appeals as each stage has been improved with training, and standard setting. This is obviously good news, but if you are declined at the first stage and think that you do have a good case, then consider taking your case up the line.

The appeal is the last resort for most veterans or their surviving spouses. Unless there is a point of law to appeal, there is no higher court to refer a claim to, so there is a need to do the best possible job as an advocate to get the desired result. It will not always happen.

It is sometimes impossible to find the slightest link between a disability and military service. Sometimes the medical records have gone missing, sometimes the veteran as a fit young person did not report an accident, sometimes the accident was reported, but the medics didn't write it up as they should have. And for those who believe that they have not been awarded a high enough percentage of disablement, the Claims Panels, NRO and the War Pensions Appeals Board all have to weigh up the evidence in front of them and take advice from the specialists who have examined the claimants. There are many imponderables.

That day in September, Tere and I had a total of nine cases to present, six of them had been previously adjourned from earlier hearings. We had three cases allowed, and one disability percentage rate confirmed, so making a Temporary Pension a Permanent one - and that particular person was asked to make new claims on other disabilities that had been found by the specialist he had been sent to by War Pensions. Two other cases were declined and three were adjourned for further information or tests.

So where am I going with this article? As I said in my title "Appeal: The Last Resort" this is the end of the line, be it favourable or not for most veterans' War Disablement Pensions claims. If however you find some new information after the appeal has been heard you may write to War Pensions Services to ask that your case be re-opened. The decision on whether or not to re-open your case will depend on the quality of your new evidence.

From information gleaned from War Pensions Services only about 18,500 veterans are claiming War Disablement Pensions and the general feeling is that there must be more people out there who have become disabled due to something that happened during service, or some pre-existing condition that was aggravated by service. Where are they? Why haven't they made a claim?

I am told that many do not want to claim this sort of pension for a number of reasons, such as pride and stoicism. My answer to that is that these admirable traits do not ensure that you get the treatment you deserve, either in the form of a pension, or receiving medical assistance, or indeed for giving your spouse the chance of extra income after you have gone.

In the August Review I gave a list of all the conflicts and emergencies for which War Disablement Pensions are available. Some disabilities that started due to peacetime service up to 1974 (when ACC came into being) can also be claimed.

I would urge veterans who have been hurt by their service (including hearing loss) to make claims for a War Disablement Pension, or at least talk over the possibilities with the Welfare Officer at the local RSA. Remember, you do not have to belong to an RSA in order to ask for help. Any ex-service person can ask for advice and assistance from the RSA. If any of you know an ex-service person who has a potentially service related disability and has not made a claim, urge that person to make that claim.

Having made your claim and not been totally satisfied with the outcome there is the review process, which takes you to the National Review Officer. You have to apply in writing for a review within six months of getting the Claims Panel decision. And then if still not happy after you receive the NRO's decision you can ask, in writing and within another six months, for an appeal to the War Pensions Appeal Board. When asking for a review of the decision you will need to be able to state why you want a review. If you have new evidence, send it in to be considered, if there is no new evidence just give as clear a reason as possible for asking for the case to be looked at again.

If you are totally happy with the outcome at any point, and your disability has been allowed you will receive a War 18 Treatment Card, which will allow you to get free medical treatment for the named disability. You will probably, but not necessarily, receive a fortnightly pension, which will be paid into your bank account. Note there are only a very few disabilities that do not attract even a 5% War Pensions Disablement Pension.

You may be interested to note though that some cases are allowed but with a Temporary Pension made payable as the disability might improve with treatment. Temporary Pensions are reviewed at intervals to see whether there has been any change necessitating an alteration to the pension for that particular disability. This could be the removal of the pension because an operation has cured the problem; or confirmation that the disability is not going to improve, or has deteriorated, at which point the Temporary Pension will be changed to a Permanent Pension, and might be increased.

If you think that your accepted disability has got worse, or you have found another disability that you would like considered by the Claims Panel, ask the War Pensions Services for a form to make the application for a medical review of the accepted disability or to add on a new one. That application will go through the same processes as outlined above.

Those of you who have hearing loss accepted as a disability can to get help with hearing aids, but the rules can be complex so please contact War Pensions Services in Hamilton (0800 553003) for direct advice in your particular case prior to making any new purchase.

If you have any queries about War Disablement Pensions call your local RSA and speak to the Welfare Office, or call me at RNZRSA Headquarters, or call the War Pensions Services at Hamilton.