Claim of the Prevailing Respondent to Reimbursement of Representation Costs in the Supplementary Benefits Procedure

Facts

The case concerns an insured person who had filed a complaint against a decision of the Old Age, Survivors' and Invalidity Insurance Commission of the municipality of Wetzikon. The administrative authority, in turn, called upon the cantonal appeals commission for supplementary benefits to the OASIA/IV, as it did not agree with the first instance objection decision.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court decided that the prevailing respondent in the cantonal supplementary benefits procedure is entitled to reimbursement of representation costs, even though Art. 85 para. 2 lit. f OASIA only refers to the complainant. The court justified this by stating that the principles laid down in this provision were incorporated into the OASIA due to the enactment of the Disability Insurance Act, in order to grant the insured person a right to representation and reimbursement of costs. Given the fact that in the area of supplementary benefits the insured person…