Rental allowance and child -related budget often remain on the shelf. Research by Statistics Netherlands from March this year shows that in 2021 more than 1 billion euros in housing allowance, health care allowance and child -related budget was not requested, while there was a right to it.
Especially among the self-employed and network-retailed people, the group that does not use surcharges is relatively large. Among social assistance recipients, this share is relatively small.
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The allowances are intended to support people financially. How much care allowance someone gets depends on the amount of his income. In 2024, people can receive an amount of a maximum of 1,483 euros in health care allowance for the entire year. If people had a allowance partner, it is about 2024 a maximum of 2,833 euros.
Fear of paying
Olaf Simonse, researcher and adviser at the Psychology and Economic Behavior knowledge center, did PhD research into the reason why people do not use facilities, such as surcharges. His research showed that the main reason for not requesting any allowances was the fear of recoveries.
This fear is not entirely unfounded, the Stichting Complaints and Disputes Health Insurance (SKGZ) writes in a message. According to data from Statistics Netherlands, 200,000 people in 2024 had a payment arrears at the Surcharge Service. This concerns more than a quarter of all 747,560 households with problematic debts. “To prevent recovery, it is of great importance to pass on changes in income to the Surcharges Service in time,” the SKGZ writes.
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200,000 letters
To alert households to their possible right to allowance, the service sent 200,000 letters last month. It states how people can check for themselves whether they are still entitled to health care allowance and, if so, how they can request it. Last year, the Surcharge Service also sent letters, when more than 55,000 households still applied for the healthcare allowance for 2023.
People have until 1 September to request a surcharge over 2024.