News article | 02-06-2023 | 15:00
With a package of additional measures, the government wants to further speed up and improve the recovery for parents who have been affected by the problems of the childcare allowance. These include the introduction of an alternative route for parents with additional damages, an adjustment and simplification of the opposition process and a smoother provision of records. The measures, still under development, are in addition to the actions announced last February, in particular to improve and accelerate the full assessment.
In order to clear up more quickly those parents who still have additional damage after the full assessment, the practice would like to offer a new form of damage handling in addition to the handling by the Actual Damages Committee. The starting point is a damage frame with fixed amounts. This allows you to test faster. They also don’t have to prove causation, reducing the burden of proof on parents. This means that they no longer have to show precisely that the damage is the result of the profit case. If the parties agree, a settlement agreement is reached. Parents have the choice of the claim settlement that best suits their situation.
This is what State Secretary for Benefits and Customs De Vries writes in a letter accompanying the progress report on the recovery of benefits which 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 of the recovery operation. The measures will be further elaborated and tested in terms of feasibility and financial consequences. At the end of June, the Chamber will receive a letter on the further development and feasibility of the various measures. We are currently working hard to test the feasibility.
State Secretary De Vries: “I want nothing more than that the parents can finish this as quickly as possible and get on with their lives. That’s why we continue to look for ways to improve the recovery operation. It is important to me that parents have more choices in the different stages of the recovery process.
Objection and file availability
Parents who have submitted an objection often have to wait a long time for it to be processed. To speed this up, the government no longer wants to submit all (simple) objections separately to the Objection Advisory Board. Measures are also taken to give parents quicker access to their files. For this purpose, a single type of file is used as far as possible and software will be made available to anonymize third party data.
Recovery Operation Progress
Up to and including April 2023, 62,300 people have registered as potentially affected by the Benefit Recovery Implementation Body. A total of 29,400 parents were recognized as victims. Upon registration, parents are entitled to assistance from the municipality where they live. Parents who have been found guilty of having been duped will receive 30,000 euros within a few weeks. In addition, debts are suspended and processed and public debts are cancelled. Around 90% of the debts have now been settled. The children’s program also started last November. Over 25,000 children have now received an amount. Full assessment was also completed for 35% of enrolled parents. It still seems possible to achieve 57,000 full assessments by the first quarter of 2025.