Almost quarter applications for insurance guaranteed living is refused
« The application must be easier, » according to Sofie Mertens. – © Laura Vereertbrugghen
Almost a quarter of the applications for guaranteed living are refused. This is evident from figures that Flemish MP Sofie Mertens (CD&V) requested from the Flemish Minister for Housing Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit). « Incidental applications in particular are a pain point. The application must be easier and applicants must be better supported, » says Mertens.
The guaranteed living insurance is a free insurance that every Fleming can take out with the Flemish government and that protects with loss of income. The insurance helps owners of a home with the repayment of their loan if they have become involuntarily unemployed or disabled.
From 2019 to 2024, 61,801 applications were submitted for the insurance, good for 50,080 insured persons. On average, it concerns 10,300 applications per year. After a relapse during the Corona years 2021 and 2022, there has been an upward trend since 2023. With 11,267 applications in 2024, we are almost again at the level of for the pandemic.
Incomplete requests
In 2023 and 2024, 5,139 applications for insurance guaranteed housing were rejected, accounting for 23.6 percent of the total number of applications. One of the main reasons for the refusal is the incompleteness of the application: no less than 45 percent of the applications refused was refused for that reason. In addition, the conditions for fitness (1,276) and employment (821) are often stumbling blocks: 2,097 applications did not meet those criteria, so that the application was refused.
« If almost one in four applications are refused, the procedure is simply too complicated, » says Mertens. CD&V therefore argues for administrative simplification and an extension of the application period. « We cannot allow people to drop out because the procedure is too complex or because there are uncertainties in the conditions. »
Since January 1, 2023, the free insurance policy can be requested digitally via the website of the Vlaams Woningfonds, which was certainly a step in the right direction, Mertens says. « But the application procedure is extremely heavy. This should be easier. »
