Debt help in the Netherlands: how to apply for Msnp (voluntary settlement) or Wsnp (statutory restructuring)

Request free debt help from your gemeente (municipality)

You can ask your gemeente for free schuldhulpverlening (debt help). The first interview has to happen within 4 weeks. In cases involving eviction, a utility cut-off, or health-insurance termination, it must happen within 3 working days. If you proceed, you must receive a written plan or a refusal within the local time limit, and no later than 8 weeks after that interview. Possible routes include a voluntary settlement and court restructuring.

This guide is about debt help for adults who live in the Netherlands, including those who have business debts. You are allowed to request help even if you can still pay some of your bills.

How to apply for municipal debt help

Send your application to your own gemeente. The Wet gemeentelijke schuldhulpverlening (Wgs, Municipal Debt Help Act) applies to residents who are registered in its Basisregistratie Personen (BRP, Personal Records Database). Foreign nationals must also have a lawful-residence status that qualifies under the Act.

Your gemeente looks at your case individually. It can refuse help if you have received debt help before. Another possible ground for refusal is fraud that caused financial harm to a public authority, but only after a final criminal conviction or a final punitive administrative sanction. If you are not registered or do not know whether your residence status qualifies, ask the gemeente and seek legal advice. In exceptional cases, the Act permits help even when the usual resident rule is not met.

When you request help and get ready for the first interview:

1. Get in touch with your gemeente to ask for schuldhulpverlening.
2. Tell them the date of any threatened eviction, disconnection, health-insurance termination, summons, or seizure.
3. Use the municipal form or email to send the letters that are relevant.
4. Keep the confirmation that your request was received.
5. Make a list of all creditors, balances, payment deadlines, income sources, and assets. Include debts that are disputed.

For an urgent threat, the deadline for the first interview is shorter. The period for the written decision begins after your first interview. Ask the gemeente to confirm both its local decision period and the exact date of your decision.

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Keep evidence that you made your request

You can make the request in person by speaking. Also send it through the municipal form or by email. Keep the confirmation and note the date of every urgent threat. You must still give the gemeente the income, asset, and debt information it asks for.

Once the first interview is over, the gemeente issues a formal decision: either a plan van aanpak (plan of approach) or a refusal. The gemeente may skip this decision if you state during that interview that you do not want more debt help. A plan can contain conditions. At a minimum, it has to protect your beslagvrije voet (protected minimum income). A formal decision is also needed to end municipal debt help.

Objections, complaints, and decisions that come too late

Choose the route that fits the problem:

• If you disagree with a written offer, a refusal, or a decision that ends help, file bezwaar (an objection) with the gemeente. Follow the instructions given in the decision. The usual period for objecting is 6 weeks.
• If the problem is about how the service is carried out, complain to the gemeente first. If that does not solve it, contact the municipal ombudsman. If your gemeente uses the Nationale ombudsman (National Ombudsman), contact that service.
• If no decision arrives after the legal period, check whether the gemeente lawfully extended or paused that period. If the period has expired, send an ingebrekestelling (formal notice of default). The gemeente then has 2 weeks to make a decision. After that, court action and a penalty may be possible. Get legal help before you file.

Warning

Name the urgent threat

The 3-working-day rule applies to forced eviction; cut-off of gas, electricity, district heating, or water; and cancellation or termination of health insurance. Attach the letter and state its date. Other serious problems also require attention, but they do not automatically fall under this Wgs deadline.

Early-warning letters

The gemeente can send an early-warning letter that offers help with payment arrears. Residential landlords, drinking-water companies, energy suppliers, and health insurers may send specified reports about arrears after they have made their own attempts to collect payment. The gemeente must then offer contact. You are allowed to refuse help. If you accept, the first-interview rule applies. A reminder from a provider can still demand payment.

Before a landlord reports rent arrears, it must send a written reminder and try to make personal contact. It must explain how to prevent or clear the arrears, refer you to debt help, and offer to share your details. If you explicitly object, the landlord cannot report the arrears. A report may still be possible if you do not object or if the landlord cannot reach you.

Services provided by municipal debt help

Municipal debt help costs nothing. The gemeente can use a social team, a credit bank, or a specialist provider. Even when another organisation delivers the service, the gemeente remains responsible.

The help can include the following services, depending on your situation:

• Budget advice, assistance with forms, social work, and a plan to prevent new arrears.
• Budgetbeheer (budget management): a provider receives your income and pays the fixed costs that have been agreed. Ask how the remaining money is paid to you.
• A minnelijke schuldregeling (Msnp, voluntary debt settlement), either through schuldbemiddeling (debt mediation) or through a saneringskrediet (debt-settlement loan).
• Aftercare that helps you keep the new budget stable.
• A request to the court for a temporary Wgs cooling-off period, when this is necessary for debt help.

Budgetbeheer can be voluntary. The gemeente can also require your cooperation as a condition in your plan. Ask which bills the provider will pay, how much household money you will receive, and how the arrangement can be ended.

A Wgs cooling-off period requires a court order. The gemeente makes the request to the court, and the court checks whether it is necessary and whether the other legal conditions are met. The period can last no longer than 6 months. During this time, creditors temporarily lose specified rights to recover or reclaim your assets. You have to use the pause to stabilise your finances and put money aside for repayment.

This municipal cooling-off period is different from the urgent temporary protection connected to the Wet schuldsanering natuurlijke personen (Wsnp, statutory debt restructuring for individuals). The court options below explain that route.

Payment plans and settlements on a voluntary basis

If you can repay a debt, propose an ordinary payment plan to the creditor. Show what you can afford while still paying your current rent, energy, food and health insurance. The creditor may refuse your proposal.

When you cannot handle your debts, the gemeente can prepare an Msnp settlement with all creditors. Under schuldbemiddeling, you keep a vrij te laten bedrag (vtlb, living allowance). Normally, you pay income above the vtlb into the settlement, and creditors receive their agreed share. A fund can expressly state a different purpose for its payment. For example, money given only to pay one particular debt must be used for that debt.

With a saneringskrediet, a credit bank pays creditors the agreed amount. You then repay one loan, which may include interest.

For new Msnp settlements, including schuldbemiddeling, debt counsellors are expected to suggest a repayment period of 18 months. The actual period depends on your agreement and your circumstances.

Check the repayment period in your offer.

The Dutch debt-help trade association NVVK applies an 18-month repayment standard to saneringskredieten and supports using them when they fit. Which path you take depends on your situation, what creditors agree to, and the loan terms. The Wgs does not guarantee an 18-month repayment period for everyone.

For a voluntary settlement to go ahead, every creditor taking part has to agree. At present, creditors do not have a general legal deadline for responding to the proposal. The planned Wet schuldregelen (Debt Settlement Act) would introduce rules. The consultation on it ended on 17 August 2026. As of 4 October 2026, official legislative calendar still shows the proposal as being prepared.

Court options when creditors refuse

If a voluntary settlement fails, you may be able to make a court request. Rechtspraak (Dutch courts) sets out the three options. Whether your request meets the conditions is for the judge to decide.

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Work with your debt counsellor to prepare the Wsnp request for the rechtbank (district court). You will need a statement that explains why voluntary settlement failed or could not happen, along with proof of your debts, income and assets. The municipality or another legally authorised issuer provides that statement. Ask your counsellor who is able to issue it in your situation.

The request needs your signature. If you have a spouse or registered partner, they must also sign it. When curatele (full legal guardianship) applies, a curator (court-appointed guardian) must sign as well. For this first request, a lawyer is not required.

The amount you owe is not the only thing the court considers. As a rule, you must satisfy every condition that applies from the list below. The next paragraph describes one exception.

• You can no longer pay your debts, and the voluntary settlement attempt failed or was impossible.
• During the past 3 years, you must have behaved in good faith at the time the debts started or stayed unpaid. The court will look as well at how hard you tried to pay. Cases involving fines, fraud, or borrowing in an irresponsible way must each be looked at separately.
• If you have a final conviction for a misdrijf (a criminal offence, not including minor offences), debts tied to it will usually stop you from being admitted when that conviction became final within 5 years before you applied. The judge can choose to look back over a longer period.
• If addiction or psychosocial problems apply, you can generally only be admitted if a care provider confirms at least 1 year of control.
• You can follow the Wsnp duties and will try to earn as much as possible.

If you have got the reasons behind your debts under control, the law permits an exception to both the good-faith condition and the condition about criminal debts. Ask your counsellor what proof the court requires.

Warning

Appeal a Wsnp refusal within 8 days

Should the rechtbank turn down your application, you may appeal to the gerechtshof (appeal court) within 8 days after the judgment. The appeal has to be filed by a lawyer. As soon as you get the refusal, reach out to a lawyer or Het Juridisch Loket (legal advice service).

Life during and after court restructuring

For people who are admitted starting on 1 July 2023, the usual Wsnp term lasts 18 months. When there are special circumstances, the court may lengthen it to no more than 5 years. A Wsnp-bewindvoerder (debt restructuring administrator) oversees your case and reports to a rechter-commissaris (supervising judge).

This role is not the same as budgetbeheer or beschermingsbewind, the court-ordered management of your assets. While you are in the Wsnp, you have to follow these duties:

• Give the Wsnp-bewindvoerder all relevant information, both when asked and on your own initiative.
• Do not create new debts.
• Meet the work, job-search and effort duties that apply to you.
• Earn as much as reasonably possible and pay income above the vtlb into the debt restructuring account.

If you carry out the duties, the court can give you a schone lei (clean slate). Debts that it covers can no longer be enforced. Save the judgment. New debts, and debts outside the Wsnp, still have to be paid.

These debts and financial records may remain after a clean slate:

• A student debt to DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education service) that you did not have to repay yet. DUO arrears and fines that were already there when you entered the Wsnp can be covered.
• Claims from CJIB (Centraal Justitieel Incassobureau, Central Judicial Collection Agency) are included, except for traffic fines that the clean slate covers.
• The mortgage, if you were allowed to stay in your owner-occupied home during Wsnp.
• A record at BKR (Bureau Krediet Registratie, credit registration agency) of debts that were registered earlier. It stays visible for 5 years after the clean slate.

Money that you receive later but that belongs to the Wsnp period goes to the Wsnp-bewindvoerder. This includes a tax refund for that period or an inheritance from someone who died during it. The court can revoke a clean slate if breaking your duties harmed creditors. Hiding money is one example.

If your complaint is about your Wsnp case, put it in writing to the rechter-commissaris. Complaints about how your administrator behaves follow another path: start by filing a complaint with the organisation that employs the administrator. After that, you can take your complaint to Raad voor Rechtsbijstand (Legal Aid Board). When your administrator is a lawyer, you must instead use the complaints procedure for lawyers as a profession. Municipal debt-help complaints are handled differently from these routes.

Budget management and court-appointed administrators

Who has control over your money, and how the arrangement can come to an end, depends on the type of arrangement you have. Look at the name shown on your agreement or court order, then compare it with the roles listed below.

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If you are unable to manage your money—for example due to problematic debts or spending too much—you may apply for beschermingsbewind. Applications can come from you, a partner, particular relatives, and various care or legal representatives. Hiring a lawyer is not required.

Curatele applies to legal decisions about both finances and personal matters. Mentorschap—support appointed by the court for personal care—applies only to decisions about personal care.

Arrears for energy and health insurance

When a gas or electricity bill is unpaid, the supplier has to send no fewer than 3 written reminders. Every reminder must give you at least 14 days to pay. Each one must also offer a way to get in touch and arrange payment. The supplier must make an effort to reach you in person and tell you about debt assistance. If you request it, or while you are speaking with them personally, they must offer a payment plan that is reasonable and suitable.

While any one of the following protections is in effect, the supplier is not allowed to terminate your contract because of arrears:

• You are keeping to a payment plan that has been agreed.
• The supplier is dealing with your formal complaint about the unpaid bill, or a related dispute is still open with a dispute body that the supplier belongs to.
• The debt forms part of a debt-help process that is already running, or you provide proof that you have applied and are awaiting the municipality’s decision.
• You provide a certificate from a doctor who is not treating the person who is at risk. The certificate must state that disconnection would lead to very serious health risks for you or for another person in your household. The protection continues for as long as that risk exists.

To get debt-help protection, you must act within 4 weeks after a reminder: either get the debt included in the process or send the supplier proof that you have applied. The law permits a longer period when that is reasonable. In addition, after the supplier first shares your details with a debt-help service, it must wait at least 4 weeks.

When the contract has already been ended, send proof as soon as possible—either of your debt-help application, of the debt being included, or of the medical risk. If you supply that proof within a reasonable period, the supplier has to offer a new contract with the same terms or similar ones.

Once the supplier has ended the contract, the network operator may physically cut off the gas or electricity. If your letter contains "einde levering" (end of supply), get in touch with the supplier and the gemeente about the date mentioned.

If health-insurance premiums remain unpaid for at least 6 months, the insurer can register you with CAK (public healthcare administration office). In 2026, the bestuursrechtelijke premie (administrative premium) is €172.70 per month. This does not lower the older debt you owe the insurer.

The premium can be deducted from your salary, benefits or pension. If that does not happen, you will get payment requests via CJIB. When CJIB collects some or all of the premium, your zorgtoeslag (healthcare benefit) is used for that payment. Look at your CAK letter to see which collection route applies.

Your basic insurance remains in place, though supplementary coverage can stop. If you owe premiums, you cannot change your basic insurer. Owing money only for the eigen risico (healthcare deductible) does not by itself stop you from switching.

The insurer stops the CAK registration once the premium debt has been paid, an accepted payment arrangement is in effect, or a qualifying debt-help arrangement exists. Do not change your payments until you receive the CAK’s stop notice. Ask your insurer and the gemeente which route fits your situation.

Debt collection agencies and bailiffs

What a collection letter can demand depends on who sent it. An incassobureau (debt collection agency) and a gerechtsdeurwaarder (court bailiff) do not have the same powers. Look at who the sender is and at any date for a hearing or a payment.

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A collection letter may result in court proceedings. A document from a bailiff might already set a hearing date or a payment deadline. Seek legal help immediately if you get a document you do not understand.

When a collector acts for another creditor or collects a debt that has been bought, it must be registered if it collects from a person living in the Netherlands. Check the Register incassodienstverlening (debt collection services register). Lawyers and authorised bailiffs instead rely on their own professional registers.

From 1 October 2026, you do not have to pay a collector that is unregistered or suspended. Its collection fees are not owed, and that includes fees charged by a later collector for the same claim. Statutory interest stops rising as of the date of its written payment demand. The original debt is still owed to the creditor. These protections come from the Wet kwaliteit incassodienstverlening (Wki, Debt Collection Services Quality Act). Obtain legal advice on how to settle that debt.

Consumer collection fees

Before a creditor can charge incassokosten (collection fees) on a consumer debt, it must send a payment reminder. That reminder has to give you 14 days to pay and must state the fee that will be charged afterward. The 2026 maximum scale applies to the original debt in bands:

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The standard minimum fee is €40, and the overall maximum is €6,775. A lower rule applies to instalments of no more than €266.67 under the same contract.

With every new reminder, check the previous 6 months for earlier instalments under the same contract that were not paid on time after a reminder. Instalments above €266.67 count as well. For an instalment of at most €266.67, the maximum fee is €40 when none count, and €20 in all other cases.

When a reminder covers several instalments, it may include one that qualifies for the lower rule. If so, the fee used is the highest one for any single instalment included.

As an example, a consumer debt of €3,500 in 2026 has a maximum fee of €475: 15% of the first €2,500 (€375), plus 10% of the remaining €1,000 (€100). The creditor is allowed to charge less. This example assumes a valid reminder and no exception for repeated instalments or for an unregistered collector.

For the calculation, bills from the same creditor that can go into one reminder are added together, unless the repeated-instalment exception applies. A new debt arising later can lead to a new fee. Interest may apply as well. You cannot add separate reminder, administration and handling fees on top of collection fees.

Btw (value-added tax) may be added only when the creditor uses a taxable collection service and is unable to reclaim that tax. In the payment reminder, the creditor must state clearly that it cannot reclaim the tax and that the collection fee is raised by that tax percentage. If the amount is wrong, dispute it in writing.

The income protected from seizure

When your income is seized or offset, your beslagvrije voet protects a portion of your salary, benefit or pension. Money that is already in a bank account has a separate beslagvrij bedrag (protected bank-account amount). Ask the bailiff which protection is shown on your letter.

For a seizure of income, check the following rules and records:

• The party carrying out the seizure must send an overview that shows the beslagvrije voet and the income, household and housing data it used.
• Even when income is low, at least 5% of net income goes to creditors.
• Check the data and calculation at Uw beslagvrije voet (official protected-income information service). If the figure is incorrect, contact the seizing party as soon as possible, preferably within 4 weeks.
• The amount can change if your income, housing or household changes. An increase does not happen automatically. For a person who receives bijstand (social assistance), a recalculation is automatic.

Keep the calculation letter.

Include evidence when you ask for a correction, and retain copies. Request that the party that made the seizure confirm the effective date in writing. The gemeente can assist with checking the calculation.

Common problems

When a municipal deadline is missed

Find out if the first interview or the formal decision has passed its deadline. Write to the gemeente to remind them, including the date of your request and the applicable Wgs deadline. If the decision period has run out, ask Het Juridisch Loket about an ingebrekestelling. A delayed interview does not count as a refusal. While you wait, continue to respond to any eviction or cut-off letter.

When a creditor refuses the settlement

A single refusal may stop a voluntary settlement. Ask your counsellor if a dwangakkoord fits your situation and if you satisfy the Wsnp admission conditions.

Under NVVK rules, a settlement proposal must offer creditors who have the same legal priority the same percentage of what they are owed. If you make an extra payment to one old creditor, that can violate the rule and harm the proposal. Talk with your counsellor before making any extra payment.

Debts that your partner owes

Your duty to pay your partner’s debts depends on when you married or registered your partnership and on your property arrangements. If you had a full community of property that began before 1 January 2018, your partner’s debts and assets may be part of that community.

Starting 1 January 2018, the standard rule is limited community of property. Private property and debts from before that date usually remain private. Joint debts from before that date, and many debts incurred during the marriage or registered partnership, may be shared. Huwelijkse voorwaarden (marriage property agreements) can alter the outcome. Keep evidence showing who owns each asset, and seek advice about your own situation.

Self-employment debts

Ask the gemeente about help with business debts and with personal debts. The Besluit bijstandverlening zelfstandigen (Bbz, social assistance scheme for self-employed people) can offer temporary income support or business capital, usually in the form of a loan. Whether you qualify and what kind of support you receive depends on your circumstances, your assets and your business.

You can apply for Wsnp if you own an eenmanszaak (sole trader), are a partner in a VOF (vennootschap onder firma, general partnership), or are a managing partner in a CV (commanditaire vennootschap, limited partnership). A BV (besloten vennootschap, private limited company) cannot apply.

In a Wsnp, a business usually has to close. The rechter-commissaris may permit you to continue operating it, but only under conditions. Court guidance generally requires a credible forecast that the business will generate more net income than employment or benefits. The supervising judge determines the conditions, including financial controls and risk management. Before you deregister at KVK (Kamer van Koophandel, Chamber of Commerce), discuss the consequences with your counsellor. The ZZP (self-employed without staff) guide explains tax and business basics.

Paid debt relief offers

Debt help from the municipality costs nothing. Paid debt mediation is limited. The government has issued warnings about unauthorised companies that charge for it. For a Wsnp request, you still need a statement from a legally authorised issuer. Before you sign or cancel anything, ask the gemeente or Het Juridisch Loket to review the provider, the service, the total cost and the cancellation terms. The proposed Wet schuldregelen rules have not yet taken effect.

Help to request today

When you ask the gemeente for help, provide the date of any letter that threatens eviction, disconnection or termination of health insurance. If you receive a summons or a seizure, also get legal advice. Continue opening your letters while your request is being reviewed.

Where you can, keep up payments for current rent, energy, water, food and health insurance. Talk with your counsellor about payments to old creditors. For free, anonymous initial advice, call Geldfit (money-help service) at 0800-8115. For a legal deadline or dispute, contact Het Juridisch Loket.

Toeslagen (benefits) can assist with current costs. Use the overview below to check huurtoeslag (rent benefit) and zorgtoeslag. You may be able to get kwijtschelding (tax remission) for municipal taxes. The rules for DUO inburgering (civic integration) loans are separate.

Go on to the page that fits your next question.

• Toeslagen: check which benefits you can claim
• Municipal taxes: check whether tax remission is possible
• DUO inburgering loan forgiveness

Official Sources

• Wet gemeentelijke schuldhulpverlening (version of 1 July 2026) - the current rules on municipal debt help, residents and lawful residence, early-warning offers, first-interview deadlines, formal decisions, conditions and the court-ordered cooling-off period
• Rijksoverheid (Dutch government): Waar moet ik schuldhulpverlening aanvragen? - where to apply, the 4-week, 8-week and emergency deadlines, possible refusals, the voluntary and court routes, and the difference between objection and a complaint
• Rijksoverheid: Wat doet de gemeente om mij te helpen bij schulden? - free municipal services, budgetbeheer, schuldbemiddeling, saneringskrediet and the court-ordered cooling-off period of up to 6 months
• Rijksoverheid: Gemeenten kunnen sneller signaleren van schulden - early-warning reports by residential landlords, drinking-water companies, energy suppliers and health insurers, and the municipality's duty to offer contact
• Rijksoverheid: Betalingsachterstand huurder melden bij gemeente - the reminder, contact and information steps a landlord must take before reporting rent arrears, and the effect of a tenant's objection
• Rijksoverheid: Hoe tref ik een betalingsregeling met mijn schuldeisers? - ordinary payment arrangements, voluntary creditor agreement, municipal help and settlement loans through a credit bank
• NVVK: Saneringskredieten en sociale leningen (debt-settlement loans and social loans) - the current sector standard of an 18-month saneringskrediet and why that product may not suit every case
• Rechtspraak: Aanvragen wettelijke schuldsanering (Wsnp) - Wsnp admission, application documents, natural-person business forms, court options, duties and the 8-day lawyer-filed appeal
• Rechtspraak: Wettelijke schuldsanering (Wsnp) - 18-month Wsnp period, extensions up to 5 years, clean-slate exceptions, 5-year BKR retention after the clean slate and administrator complaints
• Rijksoverheid: Wat kan ik doen als de overheid te laat beslist? - the formal notice of default when a government decision deadline has expired, a possible penalty and court action for failure to decide
• Rijksoverheid: Verschillen tussen curatele, bewind en mentorschap - what beschermingsbewind covers, the administrator's authority and the differences from curatele and mentorschap
• Rijksoverheid: Curatele, beschermingsbewind of mentorschap aanvragen - who may apply to the kantonrechter, the court process and the fact that a lawyer is not required
• Rijksoverheid: Kan mijn energieleverancier de levering afsluiten? - the reminders, contact attempt, payment-plan offer and protections against ending an energy contract
• Rijksoverheid: Wat gebeurt er als ik mijn zorgpremie niet betaal? - CAK registration after 6 months, withholding, continued basic coverage, switching restrictions and routes out of the scheme
• CAK: Regeling betalingsachterstand zorgpremie (scheme for overdue health-insurance premiums) - the 2026 administrative premium of €172.70, how it is collected and why it does not reduce the arrears owed to the insurer
• Rijksoverheid: Wanneer krijg ik te maken met een incassobureau? - the consumer reminder before collection fees and the powers an incassobureau does not have
• Rijksoverheid: Wanneer krijg ik te maken met een gerechtsdeurwaarder? - a bailiff's power to serve a summons and to seize with a court judgment or an enforceable administrative order
• Rijksoverheid: Hoeveel betaal ik voor incassokosten? - the statutory collection-fee bands, the €40 minimum, aggregation of bills and the limited value-added tax exception
• Besluit vergoeding voor buitengerechtelijke incassokosten (Decree on extrajudicial collection costs) - Collection-fee bands, €40 usual minimum, €6,775 cap, repeated-instalment exception and both express value-added tax declarations required in the consumer reminder
• Rijksoverheid: Hoe weet ik of mijn beslagvrije voet klopt? - the income-seizure calculation, the 5% minimum payment, the checking letter, the 4-week advice and the automatic recalculation exception for bijstand
• Rijksoverheid: Beslagvrij bedrag bij bankbeslag - the separate protected amount that applies when money in a bank account is seized
• Rijksoverheid: Heb ik ook schulden als mijn partner schulden heeft? - how the marriage or partnership date, community-of-property rules and proof affect liability for a partner's debts
• Ondernemersplein (government business information portal): Financiële problemen oplossen - municipal help for business money problems and the difference between voluntary and statutory routes for natural-person entrepreneurs
• Ondernemersplein: Bijstand voor zelfstandigen (Bbz) - possible temporary income support or business capital through the municipality and the different conditions for each situation
• Rijksoverheid: Sneller en beter hulp bij problematische schulden - current restrictions on unauthorised paid debt mediation and the proposed, not-yet-enacted Wet schuldregelen
• Rijksoverheid: Hoe kom ik van mijn schulden af? - free and anonymous help through Geldfit on 0800-8115 and referrals to the municipality and legal or social support
• Algemene wet bestuursrecht (General Administrative Law Act): decisions and objections - 6-week objection period, lawful suspension of decision periods and formal-default rules
• Faillissementswet (Bankruptcy Act): Wsnp rules - Authorised statement issuers, unreasonable-refusal test, admission exceptions and business continuation
• Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 6 (Civil Code Book 6): Article 96 - Consumer reminder and aggregation rules, including repeated instalments under the same legal relationship
• Staatsblad (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees) 2024, 44: repeated-instalment collection fees - €266.67 threshold, six-month look-back, €40 and €20 fees and reminders covering several instalments
• Wet kwaliteit incassodienstverlening: current from 1 October 2026 - Registration scope, professional exceptions and Article 18 protections against unregistered or suspended collectors
• Rijksoverheid: Unregistered collectors from 1 October 2026 - New collection-fee and interest protection; the original debt remains payable
• Justis (government screening authority): Register incassodienstverlening - Official register used to check a debt collection service
• Overheid.nl (Dutch government portal): Wetsvoorstel schuldregelen (Debt Settlement Bill) - Proposal still in preparation; consultation ended on 17 August 2026
• CAK: Paying through CJIB - Payment requests when withholding is unavailable and redirection of healthcare benefit
• CAK: Paying through salary or benefits - Income-withholding route and possible partial collection through CJIB
• ACM (Autoriteit Consument en Markt, Authority for Consumers and Markets): Problems with your energy bill - Supplier termination and physical disconnection by the network operator
• Rechtspraak: Recofa (insolvency judges’ consultation body) guidelines for debt restructuring - Business closure during Wsnp, with continuation allowed by the supervising judge
• Rechtspraak: Self-employment during Wsnp - Nonbinding guidance on credible expected business earnings, financial controls and conditions set by the supervising judge during Wsnp
• Nationale ombudsman: Municipal complaints - Complain to the municipality first; then use its own ombudsman or the National Ombudsman as applicable
• Uw beslagvrije voet - Protected income after seizure, checking the letter and reporting changes within 4 weeks
• Uw beslagvrije voet: income protection - Income seizure, offsetting tax refunds and enforceable notarial deeds as a basis for seizure
• Raad voor Rechtsbijstand: Wsnp administrator complaints - Case complaints to the supervising judge; conduct complaints first to the organisation; separate route for administrators who are lawyers
• Rijksoverheid: Municipal tax remission - Municipalities assess remission requests and decide which local taxes qualify
• Dienst Toeslagen (benefits authority): Benefit eligibility - Rent and healthcare benefits may help with current costs, subject to eligibility
• Energieregeling (Energy Regulation): current gas and electricity protections - Articles 2.44–2.47: written reminders, payment plans, complaints, debt-help timing and proof, independent medical certificates and a new contract after termination
• Rijksoverheid: Start date for shorter voluntary-settlement repayment periods - Government guidance to propose 18-month repayment periods for new voluntary settlements from 1 July 2023, including debt mediation, with individual agreements still determining the period
• Staatsblad 2007, 192: Wsnp admission conditions - Article 288: convictions for misdrijven, five years measured from finality before application, possible longer periods and the controlled-causes exception
• NVVK: Module Schuldregeling (Debt Settlement Module, January 2025) - Proportional treatment and legal-priority exceptions, 18-month settlement standard and fund-payment purpose exceptions to income above the vtlb
• Staatsblad 2012, 141: collection-fee and value-added tax rules - Article 2(3) and its notes: the consumer reminder must expressly declare both inability to reclaim value-added tax and the resulting fee increase
• Staatsblad 2012, 78: municipal debt-help refusal grounds - Wgs Article 3(3): fraud causing financial harm to a public authority and a final conviction or final punitive administrative sanction
• Energieregeling enactment: payment-plan offer conditions - Article 2.44 distinguishes contact offers in reminders from actual reasonable payment plans offered on request or during personal contact
• Rijksoverheid: Centraal Justitieel Incassobureau - Official identity and website of CJIB.