12.7.11 DRCA conditions yet to stabilise

If a person's DRCA condition has not stabilised for the purpose of a determination under section 24 [2] of the DRCA, a MRCA PI determination cannot be made under sections 69, 70, 71 or 72 until the condition has stabilised and a determination regarding the amount of compensation payable (if any) is determined under section 24(2) of the DRCA.

This may occur in situations where:

• a determination has been made in respect of an accepted condition under section 25 of the DRCA, or,
• a determination has not been made in respect of an accepted condition under DRCA and during the MRCA PI assessment, the evidence indicates that the DRCA condition is not yet stable,

In this situation, the delegate may wish to offer an interim compensation payment under section 75, if the MRCA conditions alone meet the legislative criteria.  However, it should be noted that once the DRCA condition has stabilised and compensation determined, any interim payment that has been made under the MRCA may result in an overpayment.  In such a case, it is open to another delegate to revisit the amount of interim compensation paid via section 347 [33] of the MRCA, providing the Veterans’ Review Board (VRB) and/or the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) have not made a decision relating to that determination.  If an overpayment has resulted, the delegate can recover it under section 415 [2] of the MRCA.

Note: Where DVA has made a determination in respect of a condition accepted under DRCA that compensation is payable under section 24(2) of DRCA, it is reasonable to expect that the condition is considered stable for the purposes of determining a MRCA PI claim and conducting a Chapter 25 assessment.