When am I entitled to a benefit?

In order to receive social assistance benefits, you must meet the following conditions:

• You must be a resident of the Netherlands
• You must be 18 years or older
• You no longer have any income or your income is lower than the social assistance standard that applies to you
• You can't have too much power

Income

If your income is lower than the social assistance standard that applies to you, you can receive additional social assistance benefits. This is, for example, if you only work a few hours a week or have a low WAO benefit. If you have no income at all, you are entitled to the entire social assistance benefit.

Assets

Do you have too much power? Then you are not entitled to social assistance benefits. By assets we mean all your money and belongings. This can be a car, an expensive chain, a caravan, a boat, crypto coins, etc. When you apply for the benefit, the municipality will investigate the total value of your assets.

From this total value, your possible debts will be deducted. The result of this is your wealth. Only debts that you really have to pay back count. A student loan is not part of this, because you have no direct payment obligation.

Do you have too much power? Then the law says that you have to live on that for the time being. In that case you will not receive any benefit . We call this interfering. You spend your money responsibly. So do not buy an expensive car with your assets, so that you are entitled to benefits faster. Then the municipality can say that you have not spent your assets wisely.

You may of course have some capital in addition to your benefit. This amount depends on your personal situation:

* Maximum assets = your money and your valuables – 1.5 times the amount of the benefit you are entitled to

If you are below these amounts, you are eligible for benefits. Please note: the above amounts change every year.

If you apply for or have a social assistance benefit, we take into account a capital limit. This means that you can have a maximum amount of assets. We then add up the value of all your possessions. This concerns the following matters:

• money in bank and/or giro accounts
• savings
• cryptocurrency
• stocks and bonds
• car, motorcycle, caravan (via the anwb price list Link to price list)
• jewelry
• a boat

Anything of value. How high the capital limit is for you depends on your situation. For single persons, the limit is € 7,605.00. For single parents or married couples, the limit is € 15,210.00. The height of the asset limit changes once a year by a few percent.

Do you have more power than the limit? Then you must first prepare this before you apply for the benefit. Don't do this too quickly and thoughtlessly. You should only make expenses that are really necessary. That's what we call interfering. Responsible employment is living on about 1 times the social assistance standard. Do you spend more? Then we can reduce your benefit. For example, your benefit will not be transferred or your benefit will be converted into a loan.

An example

• You are single and on social assistance.
• You have € 5,000.00 in your savings account. That is lower than the capital limit of € 7,605.00 that applies to you.
• To be precise: € 2,605.00 lower. This is called the ability to be released.
• You need a new couch, a new TV and laptop. You spend € 5,000 on this.
• Then a family member dies. You will receive € 4,000 from the inheritance.
• You think you are still under the power limit, but you are not.
• This is because the € 4,000 is higher than the € 2,605.00 (your assets to be released).

We may then have to terminate your benefit. Even if you have already spent that € 5,000.00 on stuff. When you are entitled to the benefit again depends on how long you can live on the money. In this example, this is € 1,395.00. The calculation below:

€ 5,000.00 (equity) + € 4,000.00 (inheritance) – € 7,605.00 (wealth limit) = € 1,395.00.

You may spend a maximum of 1.5 times the social assistance standard (benefit amount) per month. In this example, the social assistance standard is € 1,135.88 (excluding holiday pay). You may therefore not spend more than € 1,702.50 per month.

Your car counts as power. The municipality looks at the total loss value of your car. That is the current value minus the residual value. We see 75% of that value as power.

Example:

You are single and have a Volkswagen Polo from January 2015. The mileage is 100,000 kilometers. According to the ANWB price list, the total loss value is € 8,100.00. We take 75% from this. So the value of your car is € 6,075.00. Your capital limit is € 6,505.00. This means that you still have room for € 430.00 (capability to be released). Do you also have € 3000.00 in savings? Then you will not receive social assistance benefits. Your capital is higher than the capital limit. You must first tap into your ability to live on.

If the combined income of you and your partner is lower than the social assistance benefit, you can apply for additional social assistance benefit together. The amount of your partner's income is deducted from the social assistance benefit.

EU citizen

Do you have the nationality of a EU or EEA country? Or do you have Swiss nationality? Then you are an EU citizen. Whether you are entitled to social assistance benefits depends on how long you have been in the Netherlands.

Less than 3 months in the Netherlands

You are entitled to a benefit for the first 3 months in the Netherlands if you meet one of the following conditions:

• You are an employee and your income is lower than the social assistance standard
• You are an independent entrepreneur. This is if you have your own company and are registered with the Chamber of Commerce.
• You are unemployed or incapacitated for work, but according to EU law you are an employee or self-employed person. Am I entitled to assistance as a foreigner? | The legal counter
• You are family member from a person who meets one of the above conditions. And you live at the same address.

You are an employee or self-employed person under EU law if you:

• work at least 16 hours a week
• earn at least 50% from the social assistance standard that applies to you

Are you unemployed against your will? Or do you become temporarily incapacitated for work? Then you will be an employee or self-employed person for another 6 months under EU law.

More than 3 months in the Netherlands

Have you been in the Netherlands for more than 3 months? Then you are usually entitled to social assistance benefit as long as you are allowed to be in the Netherlands according to the law EU law. The municipality will ask the IND what exactly your situation is.

Have you been in the Netherlands for less than 5 years? Then applying for social assistance may affect your right to reside in the Netherlands. The municipality also reports your application for the benefit to the IND.

Residence permit

 If you have a valid residence permit, you are entitled to assistance. You must then comply all other conditions for a social assistance benefit.

Has your residence permit been withdrawn or expired? Then you are only entitled to social assistance if you are allowed to stay in the Netherlands by law. That is the case if:

• you have lodged an objection or have lodged an appeal against the withdrawal of your permit in time. You can then wait for the outcome of the trial in the Netherlands.
• you have applied for an extension before the expiry of your residence permit.
• You have applied for a different residence permit before the withdrawal or expiry of your residence permit

No residence permit

Do you not have a residence permit? Then you are not entitled to social assistance, unless you have lodged an objection or appealed against the withdrawal of your residence permit.

If you own your own home, you may be entitled to social assistance. The amount and form of the benefit depends on the equity in your home. This limit is € 64,100. Depending on this, the municipality can pay the assistance as a gift or as a loan. The same rules apply to a caravan and a houseboat.

The value of your home is determined by an appraiser. Is the equity of your house lower than € 64,100 and do you live in the house yourself? Then you may be entitled to assistance. You must therefore also meet the other conditions in order to receive a benefit.

Is the equity of your house higher than € 64,100 and do you live in the house yourself? Then you will receive the payment in the form of a loan. You must pay this back later. You must then cooperate in taking out a credit mortgage on your home.

Do you have your own house, caravan or boat that you do not live in yourself? Then the house is included in the calculation of your assets.

Before applying for social assistance benefits, it is important to first check whether there are other benefits to which you may be entitled. A social assistance benefit is 'the last' benefit that you apply for. Other benefits such as the WAO, WW, WIA, Sickness Benefits Act and WAJONG take precedence. We call this a provisional provision.

If you apply for social assistance benefit, we first check whether you can receive one of these benefits. If so, it is up to you to request it first.

You do this, for example, if you had an annual contract that has not been extended. In that case, you first apply for unemployment benefit (WW) because this benefit takes precedence over the social assistance benefit. Did you receive unemployment benefits for three months after that and were unable to find another job in the meantime? Only then can you apply for social assistance benefit.

If it turns out that you are entitled to this and this benefit is higher than the social assistance standard, then you are not entitled to social assistance benefit. If the amount you receive is lower than the social assistance standard, you can apply for additional social assistance benefit.

An example:

Suppose you have an unemployment benefit (WW) of € 500.00 per month and you are single. That means that you are € 635.88 short. This is then supplemented from the assistance. The table below lists all available facilities in the Netherlands.