Debt counseling at the municipality
Interview with Martijn Schut, project leader and interim manager at governments and organizations in the broad social domain
In this podcast, Jacqueline talks to Martijn Schut, project leader and interim manager at governments and organizations in the broad social domain (Wmo, Youth, Work & Income) and board member at SUNNederland and Delta Lloyd Foundation. Martijn explains how municipalities help entrepreneurs with debts and what entrepreneurs should be aware of when applying for debt assistance from the municipality.
The idea of debt counseling at the municipality is that the entrepreneur can get rid of his or her debts within 3 years by means of an agreement with the creditors. Under this agreement, the debtor pays part of the debts and the rest is forgiven by the creditors. In practice, municipalities encounter a number of obstacles here. As a result of budget constraints, municipalities have set strict rules for who is or is not eligible for debt counseling. In addition, it is often unclear with entrepreneurs how much they can actually pay off their debts. This is because entrepreneurs, especially freelancers, can have strong fluctuations in their income, depending on how many assignments they win and how much those clients pay. This makes it difficult to predict how much income an entrepreneur can generate over a 3-year period. It is also important that there are two counters at the municipality. The debt counseling department and the self-employed office where the BBZ scheme is implemented (Self-Help Assistance Decree). Due to a lack of knowledge, municipalities sometimes do not know which counter to help the entrepreneur. It is therefore important for entrepreneurs to properly inform themselves about their rights and possibilities.
Martin advises policymakers to strongly draw attention to the topic of debt counseling. Many people do not know that debt relief exists and only ask for help when the situation has escalated. If people are better informed, they can be reached at an earlier stage of the process and the damage for all parties involved can be limited.
Do you want to know more about poverty policy and debt counseling? Then go to Martijn's blog https://martijnschut.wordpress.com/ where he shares a lot of information about laws and regulations.