Dutch retirees take pension fund to court over missed raises
A group of Dutch retirees is taking legal action against pension funds transitioning to the new pension system, demanding that they pay backlogged pension indexation.
The foundation PensioenVoldoen has announced it will file a case specifically against PFZW, the pension fund for the health and welfare sector, which is switching to the new system on January 1. Under the transition, all participants—retirees, active contributors, and deferred members—will receive a minimum 7 percent increase in their pensions.
“That is a form of theft,” Rob de Brouwer, chairman of PensioenVoldoen, told AD. “The funds’ assets are intended to pay pensions, including indexation, inflation adjustments, and backlogged indexation.”
De Brouwer said retirees and participants lose their right to indexation once the fund transitions to the new system, prompting the legal challenge. Representing 40,000 retirees, PensioenVoldoen is seeking court approval to enforce payment of the unpaid indexation.
“This is a form of expropriation,” De Brouwer said. “Expropriation may be allowed, but compensation must be provided—and that is not happening now.”
"Someone who has been with PFZW for 40 years has a 32 percent indexation backlog. Someone with four years has a 6.9 percent backlog. Yet both receive the same increase,” De Brouwer explained. He questioned whether this approach is legally permissible, arguing that fund assets should first pay pensions, then apply indexation, and finally address backlogged increases.
The dispute centers on how the pension fund’s assets are distributed. PensioenVoldoen wants the Dutch court to refer the case to the European Court of Justice to determine whether the pension funds’ actions violate European rules on property expropriation. “We want the court to review the allocation key used to distribute pension assets,” De Brouwer said.
PFZW responded that it is confident the distribution of pension assets is balanced. “The supervisor, De Nederlandsche Bank, has also approved the allocation,” a spokesperson said.
