The Decision Making Process for War Disablement Pensions
The War Disablement Pension is a compensatory payment made to veterans for the impact of any disability which is found to be related to their service. It is a lifetime payment and is not taxable.
The award of a War Disablement Pension also confers entitlement to funding for treatment of the accepted disability, including the provision of aids and appliances.
The decision making process for War Disablement Pension sits under the War Pensions Group within VANZ.
Eligibility Criteria and decision process:
The War Disablement Pension decision making is specified in the War Pensions Act 1954. and consists of two independent functions the :
- War Pensions Claims Panels; and
- National Review Officers
Who is on the War Pensions Claims Panel
The War Pensions Claims Panels (Claims Panels) are made up of an employee of VANZ and a nominated member of the RNZRSA appointed by the Secretary for War Pensions. Different War Pensions Claims Panels meet each week to consider claims.
What do the War Pensions Claims Panels do:
When a claim is received by the War Pensions Claims Panel (Claims Panel) the first decision that needs to be made is whether the claimant has eligible Service. If the claimant does not have eligible Service the claim is declined.
Then the Claims Panel need to decide whether the claimant currently has the condition being claimed for. The War Pensions Act 1954 requires that the condition being claimed is a condition the claimant currently suffers from. If the claimant does not currently have the condition the claim is declined.
The Claims Panel then consider the evidence provided with the claim so that they can make a decision as to whether the condition being claimed is service related. The evidence must be reasonable and have some probative value. That means that the evidence must be a believable and demonstrate a plausible reason why the condition and any resulting disability is related to service.
In addition to the medical evidence and any other documents provided, the Claims Panel also look at Service documents and consider the role undertaken by the claimant when they were in Service and the environment they served in. If the Claims Panel requires more information to help them make a decision they are able to seek other evidence as appropriate.
Every decision of a claims panel must be unanimous. If there is no unanimity between the claims panel members on any claim each member is required to make a written record of their opinion and the reasons for the opinion and forward them to the National Review Officer for a decision.
If the evidence can be substantiated then it is presumed that the condition being claimed is possibly or probably attributable to or aggravated by Service, unless there is sufficient evidence to show that the condition was due entirely to other causes. When the claim is accepted a disability is awarded and a percentage given using the American Medical Association’s ‘Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment’.
The decisions of the Claims Panel are normally provided to the veteran within 10 working days of the decision being made by the Claims Panel.
How can you help us ensure applications are processed promptly
Currently many applications are being returned to veterans because they have not been fully completed. This delays the process of referring the application to the Claims Panel. You can help us by answering all the questions in the application form signing it in the required areas and ensuring all supporting documentation is attached. Information on its completion can also be obtained from a Case Manager at VANZ.
National Review Officer
The National Review Officer (NRO) is an employee of VANZ. The role of the NRO is to undertake an independent review of a claim when a veteran is not happy with the decision made by the Claims Panel. The powers of the NRO are set out in Section 15 D of the War Pensions Act 1954. The NRO acts independently of the Claims Panel.
War Pension Appeal Board
The War Pension Appeal Board is an independent body whose members are appointed by the Minister. There are no more than 4 members of the Appeal Board two of whom are medical practitioners, one of those is nominated by the RNZRSA.
VANZ provides secretarial support to the Appeal Board.