Agreement on austerity 'Laurentien' for allowance parents
NOS News•Tuesday, July 16, 2:22 PM
Agreement on austerity 'Laurentien' for allowance parents
Princess Laurentien's Equal Recovery Foundation (SGH) can continue to deal with the damage suffered by victims of the benefits scandal. However, there will be stricter conditions, which are likely to reduce the average amount that is paid out.
The new cabinet and the foundation have made agreements about this, writes Secretary of State Nora Achahbar (NSC) to the House of Representatives.
The starting point of the method is that the compensation that is paid must be “generous and explainable”, writes Achahbar. An independent third party will soon test the foundation's claims calculations. In order to be able to start again as soon as possible, this will be done by the Ministry of Finance for the time being.
The agreement means that SGH can start scaling up as early as this summer. Further steps can be taken in the files of parents who already participated in the trial phase. From September, other parents will be able to register.
No more money for 'old' damage
The Secretary of State has 2.3 billion euros made extra available for, among other things, this way of dealing with claims, which offers an alternative to the government's own Actual Damage Commission. Part of the money goes to existing ways of dealing with claims, which can also cost more.
A few things are changing about the Foundation's way of working. For example, money may no longer be paid out for damage that occurred before the benefits scandal began. An evaluation showed that this sometimes happened.
The target group is also limited. Only parents who have been determined to have more damage than the 30,000 euros they have already received from the so-called Catshuis scheme are provisionally eligible for recovery through the foundation.
It has also been agreed that former partners and parents who already follow or have followed a different route for damage repair cannot now use the Laurentien method. The Secretary of State expects that between 9,000 and 20,000 parents will eventually use the method, far less than the 51,000 that was previously taken into account.
Much more expensive
The agreement ends the conflict between the Ministry of Finance and the princess's foundation. The ministry previously gave the green light to a 'pilot' with the SGH method, but it soon became clear that it was much more expensive than other claims handling procedures. Victims who came to the foundation received an average of 128,000 euros.
The ministry found that amount too high and “difficult to explain”, also because money was sometimes given for things for which compensation had already been given. Finance officials feared that if the pilot were to go ahead, an additional 6.6 billion euros in taxpayers' money would be needed. The trial has not been continued for the time being.
That led to anger and misunderstanding with the foundation and Princess Laurentien. The ministry would overestimate the costs and if the trial were permanently stopped, those affected would be out to dry again. After the adjustment of the conditions, Finances believes that the foundation will no longer pay 128,000 euros, but forty thousand euros less.
Standard amounts
Victims are actually very enthusiastic about the Laurentien method. They tell their story to foundation employees and receive a compensation proposal based on that. There are standard amounts for certain events, such as a divorce.
In the House of Representatives, too, a lot of appreciation for the method of Equivalent Recovery, as it turned out last month. The then Secretary of State Aukje de Vries received support to reach an agreement with the foundation before the summer, but under stricter conditions.
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