Court Netherlands: SVB must consider late appeal from Aruba

AMSTERDAM — The Amsterdam District Court has ruled that the Dutch Social Insurance Bank (SVB) must consider the substance of an appeal filed by a man from Aruba, even though it was sent after the legal deadline.

The case concerns several SVB decisions regarding his AOW state pension. Normally, an objection submitted too late can be declared inadmissible. However, the court found that special circumstances justified an exception in this case.

The court applied legal standards developed in Dutch case law following the childcare benefits scandal, which allow greater consideration of individual circumstances when citizens miss administrative deadlines.

As a result, the SVB may not dismiss the case solely because the objection was late and must instead issue a decision on its substance.