Background information

This regulation is intended for companies which experienced water damage in July 2021 due to the heavy floods in Limburg and Noord-Brabant, but had not previously applied for compensation. These companies can apply for the Turnover compensation after water damage Limburg and North Brabant (Tegemoetkoming omzetschade na waterschade Limburg en Noord-Brabant, TOWL). The TOWL provides compensation for lost turnover to affected business owners in this area.

Content of measure

This measure is for business owners in Limburg and North-Brabant who suffered material damage and reduced turnover due to the flooding in July 2021. They can apply for TOWL. Also eligible are enterprises who do not have material damage but a lot of turnover loss.

Property damage is considered damage to assets of the business that last for a longer time ('fixed assets') or last for a shorter time ('current assets'). These include: real estate, inventory and stocks. Loss of turnover should be based on a reference period (the period a company is comparing with). This period is linked to when the company was first registered in the Chamber of Commerce Trade Register.

Companies have to have been registered in the trade register of the Chamber of Commerce with one or more branches on 13 July 2021, and the establishment(s) should be located in the damage area on 13 July 2021, and by the July 2021 floods: the company had at least €5,000 in property damage (per branch), or the damage was at least 20% of the turnover of the establishment, in the reference period for the 3rd quarter of 2021, and turnover loss was at least 50%, compared to the reference period, in: the 3rd quarter of 2021, and/or the 4th quarter of 2021, and/or the 1st quarter of 2022.

Companies can apply for compensation per quarter, if there was at least 50% turnover loss in those 3 months. So loss of turnover in one quarter means a company can apply for TOWL for that period only. If this applies to 2 quarters, companies can apply for both those quarters, and so on.

In case a company has loss of turnover due to the floods, but no or insufficient damage, the company can only apply for compensation for the 3rd quarter of 2021. Its turnover loss must then be at least 65% compared to your reference period.

The TOWL could previously be applied for between 24 October 2022 and 5 December 2022. For entrepreneurs who were previously unable to apply for the grant, there is now a second and last opportunity to still apply for the grant.

Use of measure

No final figures yet, but the ceiling for the second tranche is set at €16,060,400.00. For the first tranche, a total of 111 applications were received after closing on 5 December 2022, for a total amount of €6,027,611.34. The average amount of the requested allowances was € 54.302,80.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to 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, no evidence of social partner involvement.

Views and reactions

Unknown

Sources

• 18 October 2023: Tegemoetkoming omzetschade na waterschade Limburg en Noord-Brabant (TOWL) (www.rvo.nl)