The mistakes made by the UWV benefits agency in assessing disabled people had been known for years, also in political The Hague. It has also taken far too long for action to be taken to help victims. That is the opinion of chairman Amma Asante of the National Client Council (LCR).
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,, For years, the Central Client Council of UWV, together with the LCR, has sounded the alarm with limited results. It has now been pledged to compensate and support these clients. I am glad to hear that, but again people have been caused a lot of damage by an agency that should have protected them, ”said Asante, who stands up for the interests of people on benefits.
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On Wednesday it came out that the UWV has harmed at least 175 people because mistakes were made in assessing whether they are incapacitated for work. There may be more victims. The case concerns a group of people who between 2006 and 2010 received WIA benefit for total or partial incapacity for work. This group was subsequently left out of the picture for unclear reasons, leaving them insecure for a long time about the final assessment of their fitness for work.
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Secretary of State
According to Asante, herself a former Member of Parliament on behalf of the PvdA, the client councils wrote a letter about the matter to then State Secretary of Social Affairs Tamara van Ark (VVD) in 2019. In the autumn of 2019, the UWV and the State Secretary subsequently announced that these clients were now being reassessed. At that time, Van Ark actually left everything to the UWV and it did not come to a real solution for victims, while many people suddenly had their WIA benefit withdrawn after years.
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According to the client councils, proper guidance was also lacking to enable a return to the labor market. “They were told that the benefit that was unjustified according to UWV was not reclaimed. Those clients should be happy with that. But it’s a tip when you see what happened to these people, ”says Asante.
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Impact
At the insistence of the client councils, the benefits agency opened a reporting point at the end of last year. It emerged that victims were hit hard, as the UWV itself has admitted. “We are really shocked by the stories we are hearing,” said UWV director Guus van Weelden. “They have often ended up in difficult situations, emotionally, socially and financially. That touched us deeply. ”
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Minister Wouter Koolmees (Social Affairs) has also responded to the matter. He said that he regretted the course of events and pointed out that the government has already initiated measures in response to the benefits affair to prevent citizens from being trapped in this way again.
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