Five enforcement agencies agree to pause seizures during debt help

Five enforcement agencies, including the four largest in the Netherlands, will now let a debt-help process start before they seize anything. They signed the agreement with the NVVK, which represents debt counsellors. When someone with a debt approaches a counsellor, the agencies automatically agree to let the debt-assistance plan go ahead before any seizure.

This changes the order of events for people in debt. The counsellor first works out what the person owes, and a seizure already under way is paused. Until now, someone who reached a counsellor after a bailiff had stepped in had to settle the debt with that bailiff first.

A bailiff can take a salary, a bank account or belongings, and several bailiffs can act at once. The agencies and the NVVK say people looking for help need breathing space to work on a solution.

José Olde Olthof, director of enforcement agency Bosveld Incasso, said: "The role of debt collection and the bailiff is changing. It's no longer just about recovering a debt, but increasingly about spotting problems early, preventing escalation and giving people a way forward. That takes cooperation between everyone involved, from creditors to counsellors, and that is exactly where we see the value of this agreement."

Ellen Hennekens, senior policy adviser at the NVVK, welcomed the signing: "We hope and expect that more bailiffs will follow the example of these five."

At the end of September, Social Affairs Minister Vijlbrief made €20m a year available to help people at risk of falling into debt.