War pensioner waited 18 months for travel expenses to be paid

What happened

Mr D was a war pensioner and as such was entitled to claim expenses for the cost of travel to fittings for a prosthetic limb. This entitlement was outlined in the official guidance relating to this matter. Mr D made a claim for travel expenses and NHSBSA turned it down because he did not meet the eligibility criteria for the NHS Low Income Scheme (LiS).

Mr D explained to NHSBSA that he was entitled to claim because of his status as a war pensioner and not under the LiS. He then had to wait for 13 months for NHSBSA to acknowledge the validity of his claim and forward it for payment.

What we found

We could see that Mr D had explained to NHSBSA which policy showed that he was entitled to claim and the guidance seemed quite clear. Despite this, NHSBSA took over 13 months to agree to forward his claim for payment. There was no evidence to show that anyone took any action until Mr D followed this up and there were months where no action was taken to follow up the claim.

NHSBSA only resolved the situation when we became involved.

Putting it right

NHSBSA apologised for the distress caused, explained the steps it had taken to make sure the relevant policy was properly applied in the future. It also paid Mr D £600 in recognition of the frustration and inconvenience caused by the wait for his expenses to be refunded.