Suspend the allowance method - Laurentien pushes Kimberly into a black hole: 'Crying all day'

June 11, 2024, 2:36 PM - Update: June 11, 2024, 11:15 PM

The suffering for the victims of the benefits affair continues unabated. For a while, there was hope for those affected when the method of the (Equal) worthy Recovery (SGH) Foundation was created to compensate for the damage suffered more quickly. Now that it came out last month that the method has been suspended for now, victims are back to square one.

Kimberly Anasagasti, also a victim of the benefits affair, allegedly received an answer about her compensation two weeks ago. But right at that moment, the foundation was put on hold.

“I would have had the feedback meeting with the foundation before 4 June and then the amount would also become clear. So you're expecting that call, but then you're told it's stopped. I was crying that day. You get hit, you're just pushed back into the black hole,” she tells Heart of the Netherlands.

You can see Kimberly's full story in the video above.

Too much money

Last month, it was announced that the SGH method costs too much money, 3.1 billion euros more than previously thought. The outgoing cabinet only embraces the alternative payment recovery after adjustments.

Method Foundation (Equal) Worthy Recovery (SGH)

The “rough” approach of the Foundation (Equal) worthy Recovery (SGH) set up by Princess Laurentien was tried out with around three hundred victims last year. The idea behind it is for parents to tell their own story, after which experts use a kind of checklist with fixed amounts per claim to determine how much additional damage they have suffered.

This way of working should lead to a significant acceleration of damage repair, which is far too slow. Victims have received 30,000 euros once, but that is far from enough for everyone. It is precisely the parents who have suffered the most damage as a result of the tax authorities's fraud hunt that got out of hand, often waiting a long time for an answer.

“Don't let it dangle”

The Parent Committee on Childcare Allowance is outraged by the decision. The committee advises the government on the benefits issue and assists parents. “There was finally a prospect of a settlement and now the brakes have been put on it again, that's very bad,” said committee member Kristel de Waal to Heart of the Netherlands. “We want clarity before the recess, you can't leave those people dangling until after the summer.”

The committee wants SGH's independent approach to continue as soon as possible. For Kimberly, that is also her biggest wish. She is still short of money. “There was never money for anything extra. I would love to go to Disneyland with the kids. And a headstone for my mother's grave.”