Attendance allowance: an instalment paid before reassessment notification cannot be recovered

Notification of an adverse medical reassessment is crucial when recovering social assistance benefits. If payment preceded the recipient’s knowledge that eligibility had ended, good faith and reliance on entitlement must be examined. The Tribunal of Foggia applied this approach in judgment No. 2346 of 19 November 2025.

INPS demanded €687.32, corresponding to the September and October 2024 instalments of the Italian allowance for attendance at educational or rehabilitation facilities. The reassessment report was communicated on 26 September, after the September instalment had been paid. The court claim concerned only that instalment, amounting to €343.66.

The Tribunal referred to the rules governing social assistance overpayments following loss of medical eligibility and to Court of Cassation order No. 24180/2022. In the judgment’s reasoning, recovery must be considered by reference to notification of the assessment outcome, subject to the recipient’s responsibility for the undue payment and the absence of protected reliance.

Since the September payment preceded notification and there was nothing sufficient to exclude that protection, the judge declared it irrecoverable. The successful claim therefore concerned €343.66, not the entire amount initially demanded for both months.

The decision highlights the importance of identifying the precise period challenged and when the recipient learned of the reassessment outcome. INPS was ordered to pay the costs. The additional legal fee sought for hyperlinks was refused, however, because the Tribunal found that the links did not work.

View the court decision (PDF) ↗

https://studiolegalecelentano.com/en/news/instalment-paid-before-notification-of-reassessment