News article | 05/31/2023 | 19:09
The Benefits Department will put more emphasis on services to make it easier to apply for benefits and reduce the risk of errors. When errors are detected, they are corrected. Action will be taken in the event of intentional non-compliance with the rules.
This is stated in the new enforcement strategy for the Benefits Service that Secretary of State Aukje de Vries for Benefits and Customs today sent to the House of Representatives. The objective of the enforcement strategy is to strike a balance between service delivery activities and anti-fraud activities.
The vast majority of people want to abide by the rules and rightly claim their allowance. Due to the complexity of the laws and regulations, people sometimes make mistakes when applying for benefits. This often happens unconsciously or involuntarily. It is therefore important to distinguish unconscious errors from intentional errors. Also, it is important that candidates understand the rules. The starting point is that people should no longer get lost in complicated schemes and that (high) overlaps should be avoided.
In addition, care must be taken to prevent benefits from being paid to people who are not (or no longer) entitled to them. As part of the enforcement strategy, this requires a balance between trust in citizens and the prevention of (risks of) fraud, including an appropriate response. One of the measures that will be taken this year is the guaranteed and phased start of the intensive monitoring process.
Personal assistance
The Benefits Department, together with municipalities and other organisations, wishes to point out to people their right to benefits and encourage them to apply for a benefit. Entitlement to these allowances depends, among other things, on income, family composition and other personal circumstances. More than 5.7 million households currently use one or more services. The supplement request is easy to arrange online. To facilitate the benefit application and reduce the risk of errors, the Toeslagen service focuses more on personal support. People who have difficulty applying online or changing their allowances can benefit from support. For example, at counters and assistance points or via a Supplement service point: a network of fixed intermediaries with whom Supplements cooperates. This includes support and service providers such as libraries, associations for the elderly, forms brigades, local organizations for the elderly and social counsellors.