Personal assistance allowance: requesting another examination does not exclude good faith

Requesting a further medical assessment does not, by itself, demonstrate that a beneficiary knows that entitlement to a benefit already being paid has ended. The Bari Court of Appeal emphasised this distinction in judgment No. 535 of 4 June 2025, concerning recovery of the Italian personal assistance allowance.

INPS sought €1,054.32 for May and June 2023. An examination on 25 May found that eligibility for the allowance no longer existed, but the report was delivered on 6 June, after both payments. The Tribunal had rejected the claim that the sums were irrecoverable.

On appeal, INPS argued that the beneficiary had requested the further assessment before the scheduled reassessment and should therefore bear responsibility for its adverse findings. The Court rejected that reasoning: requesting an examination is not equivalent to knowing that medical eligibility is absent.

The Court assessed legitimate expectations in light of the sequence of events. Payment preceded knowledge of the adverse outcome, and the request for another examination was not sufficient to establish lack of good faith. The entire €1,054.32 was accordingly declared not repayable.

INPS was ordered to pay the costs at both levels. The decision separates the ability to request a medical reassessment from awareness that entitlement has ceased. Those distinct matters cannot automatically be equated to justify recovery of benefits already paid.

View the court decision (PDF) ↗

https://studiolegalecelentano.com/en/news/overpayments-of-social-assistance-benefits-made-before-the-finding-of-non-entitlement