News item | 02-06-2023 | 3:00 PM
With an additional package of measures, the government wants to further accelerate and improve the recovery for parents who have been affected by the problems with the childcare allowance. These include the introduction of an alternative route for parents with additional damage, adjustment and simplification of the objection process and a smoother provision of files. The measures, which are still being worked out, are in addition to the actions announced last February, in particular to improve and speed up the integral assessment.
In order to provide clarity more quickly to parents who still have additional damage after the integral assessment, the government wants to offer a new form of damage handling in addition to the treatment by the Actual Damage Committee. The starting point is a damage framework with fixed amounts. This allows you to test faster. They also do not have to prove causality, which reduces the burden of proof for parents. This means that they no longer have to demonstrate precisely that damage is the result of the benefits affair. If the parties agree, a settlement agreement is concluded. Parents are given the choice of which claim settlement best suits their situation.
This is what State Secretary De Vries of Benefits and Customs writes in a letter accompanying the progress report on the Recovery Operation of Benefits that was sent to the House of Representatives after the Council of Ministers. The proposal is part of a series of additional and new actions on a number of elements in the recovery operation. The measures will be further elaborated and tested for feasibility and financial consequences. At the end of June, the House will receive a letter about the further elaboration and feasibility of the various measures. We are currently working hard to test the feasibility.
State Secretary De Vries: “I want nothing more than for parents to be able to complete this as quickly as possible and get on with their lives. That is why we keep looking for ways to improve the recovery operation. It is important to me that parents have more choice in the various steps in the recovery process.”
Objection and availability of files
Parents who have submitted an objection often have to wait a long time for it to be dealt with. To speed this up, the government no longer wants to submit all (simple) objections separately to the Objections Advisory Committee. Steps are also being taken to ensure that parents have quicker access to their file. To this end, one type of file is used as much as possible and software will be made available for anonymising third-party data.
Recovery operation progress
Up to and including April 2023, 62,300 people have registered as possibly affected by the Implementation Organization for Recovery of Allowances. A total of 29,400 parents have been recognized as victims. From the moment of registration, parents are entitled to support from the municipality where they live. Parents who have been found to have been duped will receive 30,000 euros within a few weeks. In addition, debts are paused and addressed and public debts are cancelled. About 90 percent of the debts have now been settled. The child scheme also started last November. More than 25,000 children have now received an amount. The integral assessment was also completed for 35 percent of the registered parents. It still seems feasible to complete 57,000 full assessments by Q1 2025.