Background information

In principle, the Flood compensation scheme Limburg and North Brabant (WTS) offered compensation for material damage that was not insurable, avoidable or recoverable. An indemnity therefore only applied to damage that could not reasonably be insured for. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO), which implements the WTS, found that in some 800 to 900 reports, damage came from extremely heavy rainfall or overflowing streams and gullies. Despite the fact that this damage was, in principle, reasonably insurable, the government decided to accommodate the group of victims with this so-called goodwill scheme.

Victims who were not insured during the flooding in Limburg and North Brabant in July 2021 still qualify for a so-called compensation scheme: the Compensation scheme for uninsured water damage victims (Coulanceregeling voor niet-verzekerde gedupeerden waterschade).

Content of measure

Because of the exceptional situation, the many damages and the great suffering caused by the flooding among those affected, the government is providing one-off compensation for damages that were, in principle, reasonably insurable.

The goodwill scheme was designed to provide broader relief. The compensation scheme was a supplement to the WTS regulation, which ensured that people who suffered damage due to rainfall or flooding of brooks and channels and who were not or insufficiently insured for this are compensated in the same way as people who did not suffer reasonably insurable damage. Being insufficiently insured occurs when, for example, a person is not insured for damage to contents but is insured for damage to the building; this does not include the situation where someone is insured for only a limited percentage.

RVO started working on the 800-900 reports from 14 March 2022. These are only notifications that RVO has already received. The scheme will therefore not reopen. This means that it was not possible for duped parties to still submit a claim later on, the measure was just to deal with the previously received claims.

Use of measure

It is known that between 800 and 900 cases were taken up, but there is no information available yet on the total amount of these claims and how much of it was compensated.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Applies to all businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Local / regional government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Unknown.

Views and reactions

Many stakeholders saw the measure as unavoidable, due to the fact that the government announced right after the flooding that it was going to compensate people generously, while the first use of the WTS regulation showed that many people were left with a lot of damage not compensated yet.

Sources

• 15 March 2022: Coulanceregeling voor niet-verzekerde gedupeerden waterschade (www.waterschaplimburg.nl)