A refusal or a revoked sickness benefit can be appealed to the administrative court, which decides whether the Swedish Social Insurance Agency was right or wrong in its decision.

But it can take time.

The government has decided that 75 percent of all cases in administrative law must be decided within six months.

Assignment review can now show that when it comes to sickness benefit targets, it is only reached after 14.5 months - that is, after more than twice as long. 

The Swedish National Courts Administration's statistics from the year 2000 onwards show that the waiting time has never been so long.

"One year you can count on"

Benni Hokkanen from Växjö is one of those waiting to get his goal decided.

At the end of November, he appealed the Swedish Social Insurance Agency's decision not to grant him full sickness benefit in the spring of 2020. 

- After two months, I called there and asked why I have not heard anything.

Then they said: one year you can count on them to process the case.

Which means that it will then take two years from the time I was on sick leave until I get an answer, says Benni Hokkanen to SVT Nyheter Småland.

What would it mean to you if the administrative court were to take up your case today?

- Then you could have moved on.

Then you would have known what applies.

Linked to refusal of sickness benefit

The Swedish Courts' annual report for 2020 refers to the fact that there has been a sharp increase in social security cases received since 2017. It also states:

"The single largest type of target, sickness benefit targets, increased sharply in 2020 and remained at high levels compared with the last five-year period, a development that can be linked to rejection of the right to sickness benefit for longer sick leave."

In fact, in 2020, not a single one of the administrative courts reached the government's target for time limits regarding sickness benefit targets.

"I do not think it should be like this"

The differences are also large in the country.

The fastest is the administrative court in Luleå, where the case is reached after 8.3 months.

It takes the longest time for the administrative court in Uppsala - 21.3 months. 

Anna Maria Åslundh-Nilsson, a lawyer at the Administrative Court in Uppsala, says that several types of cases have increased in recent years - but that social insurance cases stand out.

- There we have an increase of 123 percent if you compare 2016 with what it looks like now.

If you compare with all administrative courts, it is 47 percent, so there you can see a pretty big difference, she tells SVT Nyheter Uppsala.

So-called coercion has also increased, with the court having statutory working hours to deal with, which forces the court to prioritize.

All in all, this means that Uppsala stands out when it comes to sickness benefit targets, according to Anna Maria Åslundh-Nilsson. 

- I look forward with confidence to the fact that we will receive an additional resource, because I do not think it should be like this, she says.