One April morning in 2023, Isa Vidholm sits awake in her bed in Södertälje. She gets help from her assistant to drink a cup of morning coffee, because she can’t hold it herself. She has assistance around the clock, as she was born with a CP injury that affects her ability to move.
Suddenly there is a knock on the door. An assistant opens the door and before Isa Vidholm is asked, the two case managers stand at the foot of her bed and interrogate her.
– When I asked: “Do you have the right to act this way?” they answered: “Yes we have”.
Tightens the follow-up control
In 2023, the Social Insurance Agency demanded back 290 million kroner in incorrect payments, of which 77 million kroner were from private individuals. In Södertälje, several cases of assistance fraud have been noticed in the media in the last decade.
According to Charlotte Hoff, head of unit at Försäkringskassan, the home visit was made to Isa Vidholm in order to ensure whether the granted assistance is carried out.
First case of its kind
But Isa Vidholm was not satisfied with what she felt was an unpleasant intrusion into her privacy. She reported it to the Ombudsman, JO, who then directed serious criticism at the Social Insurance Agency’s approach.
– This is the first time someone has complained to Försäkringskassan for doing things this way. I take a very serious view of behaving in a way that makes the individual unsure of what rights they have, says Thomas Norling, JO.
Försäkringskassan believes that they are allowed to make unannounced home visits, and that the error lies in the fact that the consent was obtained from the assistant instead of from Isa.
– We naturally take this very seriously. We will review our routines and document when we make unannounced home visits that this takes place with consent, says Charlotte Hoff.
Follow Isa Vidfors home in the video above.