A data matching system has checked 1,500 higher disability allowance cases and found 71 recipients have been overpaid, the Social Welfare Department says. It is working out repayment plans with them.

The department said the recipients have not reported their admission to special boarding schools, a condition which renders them only eligible to receive the normal disability allowances.

The department is working to understand the reasons for the failure. So far, 61 recipients have worked out an agreed repayment plan.

In June a regular reporting mechanism was established in which the Education & Manpower Bureau will pass on information on those newly admitted to subvented boarding schools to the department for data matching.

Referring to a particular case involving a blind recipient, the department said she was certified to be suffering from total blindness and delayed development and has been granted a higher disability allowance since May 1, 1990. She became a boarder in a subvented school on September 7, 1992, and should then have only been eligible for normal disability allowance.

As the recipient was under 18, her mother was appointed as her guardian to apply for the allowance on her behalf in 1990.

Reporting changes

The department said in the process of her application, staff explained the eligibility criteria to the guardian and asked her to declare whether the recipient had been admitted to a government or subvented residential institution. As the recipient was then living at home, she was eligible for a higher disability allowance.

The guardian was also reminded she is required to report to the department immediately any change in her circumstances, including admission to an institution.

However, during the four case reviews on the recipient's continued eligibility for higher disability allowance, the guardian did not report the admission. Instead in the review forms she signed, it was stated the recipient had not been admitted and resided at home.

The data matching exercise found the recipient was a boarder in a subvented school from September 7, 1992, to July 13, 2004. Since she should only have been eligible for normal disability allowances during that period, there is an overpayment of $161,663.

Overpayment recovery

The department explained to the guardian the cause of the overpayment and discussed a repayment plan. In general, overpayment will be recovered by deductions from the recipient's future entitlement.

The department said the repayment plan will be reasonable and acceptable.

The department has also suggested the guardian apply for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance.

Unlike the disability allowance, which is non-means-tested and is designed to provide a degree of assistance to the disabled to meet their special needs, CSSA provides means-tested aid to bring the income of needy individuals and families up to a level enabling them to achieve an acceptable living standard.