Municipal debt assistance still below par, Ombudsman says

Too many people still fall through the cracks when it comes to municipal debt counseling, according to National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen in a new report. The municipalities are improving, but the ombudsman still has concerns, ANP reports.

"It must be faster and better", Van Zutphen said in his report. "Several studies show that debts are harmful, especially for families with children. Municipalities should work on that."

An estimated 1.4 million Dutch households have problematic debts or are at risk of falling into debt. For this follow-up investigation, the ombudsman received data from 251, or 84 percent, of Dutch municipalities.

According to the Ombudsman, many people do not follow through with their debt counseling. Municipalities should look into why this is and come up with solutions. For example, many people don't show up for the intake interview. Most people stop their application for aid in the intake interview phase. This could be because they opt for a different type of aid, or because they disagree with the conditions that apply to the assistance program.

The Ombudsman also called it worrying that almost half municipalities could not provide him with exact figures for their debt assistance programs. He therefore calls on municipalities to improve their registration.

The association of Dutch municipalities VNG is pleased that the municipalities are presented with the results of the ombudsman's study. "It can be a reason to have a local conversation with each other and possibly communicate things differently to the resident or to act differently in the chain of debt assistance", a spokesperson said to the news wire. According to the VNG, this is a massive task. By the time people report for debt counseling, it's actually already too late. "More attention should be paid to preventing this and the duty of care creditors have."

According to the sector association for debt counseling and social banking NVVK, much progress has been made, but "there is always room for improvement", chairman Marco Florijn said to the news wire. "We urge municipalities to provide more and better debt assistance to entrepreneurs." The NVVK is also working on early identification of debts to prevent them becoming a problem. "Then there are more possibilities to offer help."