Lower penalty payment for recovery surgery surcharges

• July 2:14 - 16 July 2024
• Rotterdam region
• News

Rotterdam 16.07.2024 — The Rotterdam District Court ruled in three cases about the failure to take a timely decision by the Surcharges Department. It concerns decisions under the Recovery Surgery Surcharges Act (Wht). The court has decided that in cases where an objection decision has yet to be made, the Surcharges Department must still do so within 40 weeks. If this does not happen, the Fees Service must pay a penalty payment of 50 euros per day.Bigger and more complex than expectedIn doing so, the court decides differently than before. So far, the Surcharges Department had to make a decision within 12 weeks, under penalty of a penalty payment of 100 euros per day. First of all, the court states that it is highly undesirable that someone who has applied for compensation should wait so long for his or her decision. It undermines confidence in the rule of law that the Department of Supplements structurally fails to comply with legal decision deadlines, does not comply with court decisions and forfeits penalty payments. But the court also notes that the recovery operation appears to be much larger and more complex than expected and that the Department of Benefits is taking measures to accelerate the decision-making process.

Not unnecessarily long or unrealistically shortAccording to settled case law, the court must set a decision period that is “not unnecessarily long, but not unrealistically short either.” In the current circumstances, a period of 12 weeks is unrealistically short in cases where the Fees Service must decide to object. That is why the Department of Allowances will now have a period of 40 weeks in those matters. In cases where an appeal is filed for the second time against the failure to decide to appeal (and where the Department of Benefits has previously forfeited 15,000 euros in penalty payments), the Supplements Service must still make a decision within 20 weeks. The court also reduces the penalty payment per day to 50 euros. There are many different recovery arrangements and the Allowances Service must make a separate decision about this for each applicant. Because all decision-making is delayed, it now often happens that the Department of Benefits forfeits high penalty payments against the same applicant several times. The court finds this disproportionate. In the ruling, the court also addresses the relationship between the state powers. The court does not see it as its task to provide a structural solution to the problems of the Department of Benefits. However, the court does have a task in legally interpreting and applying the legal regulations concerning the further decision period and the amount of the penalty payment, in light of all relevant circumstances.