Court bailiffs to keep an eye out for early stages of problematic debts in new trial

Court bailiffs are going to be actively keeping an eye out for problematic debts in six municipalities. Amsterdam, The Hague, Breda, Nijmegen, Weert, and Helmond will participate in the trial along with the bailiff agencies. The national kick-off for the trial will be in Utrecht on Thursday.

The trial, which will last approximately one and a half years, is in response to a motion by former Member of Parliament Hilde Palland (CDA). She was pleading for court bailiffs to play a more significant role in signaling problematic debts two years ago. She also asked for this to be trialed.

In practice, many bailiffs already do this, but this form of “chain signaling” is not yet properly structured, the Royal Professional Organization of Judicial Officers thinks.

The organization’s chairman Chris Bakhuis-van Kesteren said that the organization visits 1.5 million homes a year. “We know the files, see the situations, start the conversation and ask questions. This enables us to form a good picture of what is going on, to assess whether there are any problems and to provide a much richer signal about this." She also said that bailiffs can refer people to debt assistance organizations.

The trial is a precursor to a legal obligation of care, which is meant to strengthen the positions of both the court bailiffs and the debtors.

The University of Applied Sciences Utrecht will use the trial to conduct research into the reasons that people are hesitant or refuse to contact debt assistance organizations.