Civil disability pension: legitimate reliance on an instalment paid before notification

Payment before notification of an adverse reassessment may create legitimate expectations deserving protection. The actual sequence of events matters: the examination date must not be confused with the date on which its conclusions become known. This was the approach taken by the Tribunal of Foggia in judgment No. 2326 of 18 November 2025.

Following a reassessment on 20 May, INPS demanded €1,470.10 for June and July 2024. The claim sought a declaration that only the June instalment of €735.05, paid on the first day of the month, was irrecoverable.

The Tribunal considered the rules on recovery of social assistance benefits and the case law on the end of protected reliance after an adverse medical finding. It found it plausible that receiving payment shortly after the examination, but before notification of the outcome, had led the beneficiary to believe that entitlement continued.

The later recovery decision, dated 30 September 2024, was also relevant. The judge considered it together with the payment already made and the notification received after collection of the disputed instalment, referring to decisions of the Bari Court of Appeal.

The claim succeeded: the €735.05 relating to June was not repayable. The judgment did not cancel recovery of both monthly instalments. INPS was ordered to pay the costs, and a 10% increase in the legal fee was awarded for the practical assistance provided by hyperlinks in the court documents.

View the court decision (PDF) ↗

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