The debt officer gets to work with those people without help. The three pilot courts referred 181 people to aid workers. Three quarters of these were not yet on the radar of the municipalities.
“The fact that courts also identify debts is part of a broad movement,” says Nadja Jungmann, professor of Debt and Debt Collection at the Hogeschool Utrecht. Housing associations, energy companies and even general practitioners are also increasingly using early detection. “The idea has descended that it also benefits society to visit people who do not move themselves.”
The courts saw that many defendants with debts do not dare to seek help out of shame or because it simply does not work. “In addition, distrust of the government or low self-esteem also plays a role. People therefore think that the help is not for them,” says Jungmann.
Offers
In addition to Rotterdam, The Hague and Limburg, the Gelderland court has also had a debt officer since March. In North Holland and Amsterdam they have other ways of linking the courtroom and municipal assistance. The other five courts want to start doing this in the coming years.
It is a great step if that succeeds, says Jungmann. “But we should not think that signaling is enough. In practice, we see that the sacrifices of debt relief are a big step for a large group of people with debts.”
For example, in exchange for help, people have to live on weekly money for years, get rid of their car or ask for board money from adult children living at home. “We also need to think about how you can make people see that those sacrifices are worth it in the long run,” Jungmann says. “And politicians may wonder if perhaps the sacrifices we are asking are not too great.”
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