All intentional violent crimes, i.e. assault, threats of violence and/or threats made with a weapon, murder, manslaughter, violent robbery and violent sex crimes (indecent assault and rape). Compensation can also be awarded to surviving relatives of a victim of involuntary manslaughter.
The payment is intended to compensate you for your pain and suffering and for any medical expenses you incur for treatment of the injury sustained during the crime or for any loss of earnings due to resultant incapacity for work. It is not intended to compensate you fully, but is a fixed, one-off amount paid out as a contribution towards the cost of the damage you have suffered.
Yes, you can get compensation if you are the spouse or registered partner or a parent, child, brother or sister of the victim who has died. You may be eligible for compensation for the distress you have experienced as a surviving relative, for the funeral costs you incur and for loss of maintenance due to the loss of the deceased person’s income.
Yes, the Violent Offences Compensation Fund (Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven) can award compensation if a person suffers psychological damage due to witnessing a violent crime or being directly confronted with the consequences of a violent crime committed against a relative.
Yes, provided that the crime of which you are a victim was committed on Dutch territory.
No, the Violent Offences Compensation Fund can award compensation only as a result of a violent crime committed on Dutch territory.
No, you do not need to have reported the crime to the police for your application to be processed by the Violent Offences Compensation Fund. In practice, however, the reporting of the crime and the subsequent criminal investigation play an important part in substantiating an application. If the crime has not been reported, it must be possible to establish the plausibility of the claim on the basis of other objective statements. ‘Objective’ here refers to information obtained from reliable, unbiased sources.
No. In certain cases, however, the Violent Offences Compensation Fund may consider it necessary to await the outcome of a police investigation or criminal proceedings to establish the plausibility of your claim.
No.
Yes. When it comes to substantiating plausibility, such applications are subject to the same conditions as those in cases where the offender is known.
Yes. You must submit your application to the Violent Offences Compensation Fund within 10 years of the date on which the crime was committed. In the case of a surviving relative this period commences from the date of the victim’s death.
For example, will the compensation cover:
(a) For the victim of the offence:
- Material (non-psychological) damage:
The payment from the Violent Offences Compensation Fund is not linked to specific losses. It is a fixed, one-off amount intended to compensate you for your pain and suffering and for any medical expenses you incur for treatment of the injury sustained during the crime or for any loss of earnings due to resultant incapacity for work.
- Psychological (moral) damage:
Yes.
(b) For entitled people or relatives of a victim:
- Material (non-psychological) damage:
In the case of surviving relatives the payment is also intended as compensation for pain and suffering (the distress resulting from the death of a relative), for medical expenses incurred, e.g. for the treatment of psychological problems caused by the death of a relative, and/or for any loss of earnings due to resultant incapacity for work. A separate payment can also be made as compensation for funeral costs and for loss of maintenance due to the loss of the deceased person’s income.
- Psychological damage:
Yes.
In a single payment.
To be eligible for a payment from the Violent Offences Compensation Fund, it is important that you should not yourself be guilty of the crime. In other words, you must not have been the perpetrator or have had a hand in the crime yourself. If you were involved in the crime, the Violent Offences Compensation Fund may reject your application or reduce the amount of compensation paid out.
Your financial situation does not affect your eligibility for compensation for the damage you have suffered.
The level of the payment is usually based on the severity of the harm you have suffered or the circumstances of the crime.
The Violent Offences Compensation Fund has defined six categories of harm, each with a fixed compensation amount. Category 1 carries entitlement to a payment of
€1 000.00 and category 6 to a payment of €35 000.00.
No.
Yes, if this compensation relates to pain and suffering, medical expenses and loss of earnings.
Yes, the Violent Offences Compensation Fund can pay you an advance on the compensation in the form of a provisional payment. This is on condition that the application satisfies the legal requirements (i.e. it has been established with certainty that you are entitled to a payment) and the Fund is unable to make a definitive decision in the short term. A request for an advance will be processed only if you apply in writing and explain why an advance payment is necessary and urgent, e.g. if you have insufficient funds to undergo treatment for the injury you have sustained. The mere fact that you are in a difficult financial situation does not constitute sufficient grounds to award an advance payment.
You can submit an additional application if, following receipt of a decision awarding you compensation, your injury proves to be significantly more serious than that on which the decision on your first application was based. A surviving relative can submit an additional application only for funeral costs and loss of maintenance.
No.
The Violent Offences Compensation Fund (Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven)
Postbus 71
NL-2501 CB The Hague
The Violent Offences Compensation Fund (Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven)
Postbus 71
NL-2501 CB The Hague
No.
No more than 26 weeks.
You can lodge a written objection with the Violent Offences Compensation Fund Committee (Commissie Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven) within 6 weeks. In your objection you must indicate which points you disagree with in the decision and why. You can send your objection to:
Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven
Afdeling Bezwaar
Postbus 71
NL-2501 CB The Hague
https://www.schadefonds.nl/english-information/
https://www.schadefonds.nl/english-information/
Telephone: 070-4142000
No subsidised legal aid is available. However, you can get advice and support from Victim Support Netherlands (Slachtofferhulp Nederland) by visiting https://www.slachtofferhulp.nl/english/. Telephone: 0900-0101.
Victim Support Netherlands: https://www.slachtofferhulp.nl/english/. Telephone: 0900-0101.
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