Facts
P., born in 1974, suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann disease and has been attending the high school in X since August 1988. Due to his disability, he is dependent on transportation between his place of residence and the school. Initially, the Disability Insurance (IV) reimbursed the costs for transportation in the passenger car operated by the parents. When the parents had to purchase a larger vehicle, the Compensation Office (Ausgleichskasse) refused to cover the acquisition and conversion costs and only granted a flat-rate mileage allowance of 45 cents.
The insured person's father then filed a complaint requesting compensation for the required vehicle as an assistive device. The lower instance dismissed the complaint.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court (Eidgenössisches Versicherungsgericht) states that the insured person is entitled to reimbursement of the additional costs for transportation to school due to the disability, based on Art. 16 para. 1 IVG and Art. 5 para. 4 IVV. The Compensation Office had only granted the insured person a mileage allowance of 45 cents, which the court considers disproportionately low in view of the short distance and in comparison to taxi costs.
Applying the insured person's right to choose the means of transportation, the appellant is entitled to reimbursement of the actual costs incurred for transportation in the parental vehicle, minus the costs that would have been incurred for the…