Steps to restore the childcare benefits

You have informed us that you have lost out on your childcare benefits. We start by discussing this matter with you so that you can explain your situation to us. We will consider your entitlement based on what you tell us. We explain the steps we are taking to restore the childcare benefits.

Contact us

Please contact us if you think you're affected and you want a reassesment. Please contact the Service Team Childcare Allowance for Affected Parents.

Do you need help urgently?

If you need help urgently, do not hesitate to contact us. Our Service Team Information Line will assess the situation with you.

Personal case officer

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.

The steps for handling your case are:

1. Biased treatment

We start by looking into whether you have been exposed to biased treatment.

Group investigations

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.

Serious mistakes

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.

2. Disproportionately affected

You may also have been disproportionally affected because the law was too strict or implemented too rigidly. We will look into this. This could relate to the following:

• 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.

3. Personal payment schedule

If you have been turned down for a personal payment schedule, we will look into whether that was correct.

Wrongfully turned down

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.

Intent or gross negligence

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.

Rightly turned down

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.

What happens after that?

The Tax and Customs Administration wants to correct the errors with the childcare benefits as effectively as possible. We are not doing that alone. There are 3 committees in place to oversee the correct restoration of the childcare benefits. You can turn to these committees if you disagree with the decision made in your case.

Committee of Experts

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.

Committee on Actual Damages

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.

Advisory Committee Regarding Objections

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.