Steps to restore the childcare benefits

After the short assessment we call you to discuss the outcome. You will also receive a letter about the outcome of the short assessment.

• If you applied for a reassessment before February 15th, 2021, and the outcome of the short assessment is that you are eligible for €30.000, we will pay you €30.000 before May 1st, 2021.
• If you apply after Februari 15th, 2021, and the outcome of the short assessment is that you are eligible for €30.000, we will pay you within 6 months after your application date.

Would you prefer to receive the money later? For example because you have unsettled debts? Please tell us so. You can do that during the phonecall during which we discuss the outcome of the short assessment with you. We never transfer money to you without having spoken wit you.

Even if the outcome of the short assessment is that your're not eligible for €30.000, you're still entitled to a full reassessment.

If you inform us that you have lost out on your childcare benefits we assign you a personal case officer. A personal case officer will always start by talking with you and listening to what you have to say. Based on what you tell us, the Allowance Restoration Organisation will consider what you are entitled to.

We assume that parents who claim to have lost out were all entitled to childcare benefits. However, if it is obvious that you were not entitled to an allowance, you will not receive any compensation or refund. This includes a situation in which you don't have any children, or if you have children who have never used a childcare centre.

When checking whether you have been subjected to biased treatment, we first look into whether you have been involved in a group investigation. The Allowances organisation has investigated the abuse of the childcare benefits among large groups. Some of the investigations have been given the name 'CAF-11 comparable'.

We have made some serious mistakes in these investigations. For example, we were too quick to assume that parents were committing fraud. In some cases, parents were unaware that they were the subject of a group investigation. If you were involved in a group investigation in which we made serious mistakes you will probably be entitled to compensation.

If you were not involved in a group investigation, we will look into whether any serious mistakes were made in the handling of your case. We will check if:

• we suddenly stopped your allowance without any investigation
• we asked for too many supporting documents
• we sent you a reminder if any supporting documents were missing
• you were required to immediately repay all the allowances in the event of a minor error
• we made mistakes in handling your objection

If the Allowances organisation made any mistakes when handling your case you will probably be entitled to compensation.

• You were required to repay benefits because you could not prove that you had paid for the total costs of childcare.
• You were required to repay benefits when all you had done was make a minor error, such as forgetting to sign a contract.
• You had to pay back benefits because you were a victim of fraud. For example if someone made fraudulent use of your (Digi)ID, or because your childcare organisation was fraudulent.

In these cases you will probably be entitled to a refund of the benefits, or you will be required to repay less. If none of these cases applies to you, you will not be entitled to a refund. You will however be offered a personal payment schedule.

If it turns out that you were wrongfully turned down, you will be entitled to compensation. If you still have an outstanding debt, you will be offered a personal payment schedule after all.

A personal payment schedule is an agreement between the Allowances organisation and you on the amount of money you repay each month. This arrangement takes into account your financial situation: how much can you afford monthly?

If we turn down someone for such a payment schedule, this is because, for example, they have deliberately failed to fill in their application correctly. This could also be because they deliberately failed to notify us of changes or to respond to our letters asking for supporting documents.

In the past, we have assumed far too quickly that parents had intentionally not responded. In those cases parents were turned down for a personal payment schedule because we had wrongly labelled the situation as ‘intent or gross negligence’. This had some very adverse consequences for them

You will be given a concession if it now emerges that that in reality there was no question of intent or gross negligence.

If the personal payment schedule was rightly turned down, you will not be entitled to any compensation. But if you still have an outstanding debt, you will be offered a personal payment schedule after all.

Also, all parents who still have an outstanding debt will be offered a personal payment schedule. Together we will look at what you can afford each month in such a way that the debt is cleared within two years.

Are you not being offered any compensation or given a concession for being turned down for a personal payment schedule? In that case the Committee of Experts checks whether this decision is correct and has been taken with due care. This is an extra check.

If you've suffered more damages than you are being compensated for, you can report this to your personal case officer. He or she will help you prepare before the Committee on Actual Damages or the Committee of Experts considers your case.

You are entitled to file an objection if you are not in agreement with the outcome. The Advisory Committee Regarding Objection assists with the handling of objections.