Employee insurance agency UWV faces legal scrutiny over recovery effort
The Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) is reportedly focusing its recovery efforts solely on correcting calculation errors in Work and Income Act (WIA) disability payments from 2020 to 2024, according to EenVandaag. Other types of errors, including those related to medical assessments or benefits such as Wajong, the Sickness Benefits Act, and unemployment benefits (WW), are not being addressed.
The decision has drawn criticism from legal experts and advocacy groups, who argue the approach fails to address a broader range of mistakes.
Flawed medical assessments, which reportedly denied some applicants their rightful benefits, are among the errors not included in the recovery effort. These include cases where symptoms of conditions such as long COVID or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were not properly recognized. Advocates claim such errors can have severe consequences, including financial instability and housing loss.
“Errors in social-medical assessments have had the greatest impact on affected individuals,” said Lucia Knoflíčková, director of the Social Security Advocacy Foundation. “This is about basic security and a stable income, often until retirement. It’s difficult to accept that these mistakes are being overlooked due to capacity constraints.”
Social Affairs Minister Eddy van Hijum has acknowledged the UWV’s resource constraints, saying they make a comprehensive review of all errors unfeasible. In a letter to the Tweede Kamer in November, he described the situation as “painful.”
“People should be able to trust that their assessments were accurate,” Van Hijum wrote. However, he noted that the volume of retrospective reviews needed would overwhelm the agency’s capacity.
A memo accompanying the Kamerbrief reportedly raised internal concerns about the legal defensibility of limiting the recovery action. Van Hijum himself questioned whether the approach was legally sustainable, though no legal analysis was included in the public statement.
Internal UWV audits have highlighted significant issues in disability benefit assessments. A 2023 audit found that half of the WIA cases reviewed contained errors or lacked sufficient documentation. Among applicants with long COVID, errors were identified in three-quarters of cases.
Former UWV employee Michiel Slot, now a jurist specializing in appeals against the agency, told EenVandaag that the recovery effort is unlikely to be sufficient. “The approach is legally, morally, and socially challenging,” Slot reportedly said, adding that he anticipates a rise in lawsuits and claims for damages.
Advocacy groups and legal experts are urging the government to take more comprehensive measures. “A responsible government must first gather all relevant information and weigh the interests of all parties involved,” Knoflíčková said.
Jean-Louis van Os, a lawyer representing UWV claimants, reportedly criticized the agency’s limited approach, suggesting that external organizations could be brought in to help handle the workload. “You don’t just leave 80 percent of the problem unresolved,” he said.
“People affected by these errors often face broader challenges—housing, family stability, financial stress—and many are already in vulnerable situations,” Van Os added.
