You can appeal against UWV’s decision on your objection to the district court, administrative law section. You must do so within six weeks of the day on which that decision was announced (articles 6:7 and 6:8 of the General Administrative Law Act (Algemene wet bestuursrecht, Awb)). If you are too late, your appeal will as a rule be declared inadmissible, unless the delay is excusable (article 6:11 Awb). If the deadline may have passed, seek advice straight away.
What you can do now
- Find the decision on your objection and read the notice of legal remedies. The period starts on the day after the decision was notified (sent); to be safe, count from the date on the letter and keep the envelope.
- Check the notice of legal remedies at the bottom of the decision to see which court has jurisdiction — usually the one for where you live.
- Lodge the appeal via the Rechtspraak (Judiciary) digital portal or by registered letter to the court.
- Can’t get your grounds ready in time? Then lodge a pro forma appeal and ask for a period in which to supplement it.
- Expect an invoice for the court fee within a few weeks and do not leave it unpaid.
Where and how do you lodge an appeal?
You submit a notice of appeal to the district court, administrative law section, for where you live — not to UWV. The notice of appeal must be signed and must contain at least your name and address, the date, a description of the decision and the grounds for your appeal; if possible, enclose a copy of the decision on the objection (article 6:5 Awb). If you send it by post, the date of posting counts, provided the court receives your letter no later than one week after the end of the period (article 6:9 Awb). Which court it is is stated at the bottom of UWV’s decision.
What does an appeal cost, and can the court fee be waived?
The court charges you a court fee; the amount is indexed annually and can be found on rechtspraak.nl and on the invoice you receive (article 8:41 Awb). If you do not pay within the set period, the court may declare your appeal inadmissible, even if it has good prospects on the merits. If you cannot pay the court fee, you can ask for an exemption (inability to pay). According to the Rechtspraak explanation of court fees in administrative law, the combined net income of you and any tax partner must be below 95% of the maximum social assistance benefit for a single person, and neither of you may have assets with which the court fee can be paid. Make the request in time, preferably in the notice of appeal itself, and return the requested information on time.
What is a pro forma appeal?
A pro forma appeal is a short notice of appeal that you submit within the six weeks to safeguard the deadline, after which you supplement the grounds later. That is allowed: if the grounds are missing, the court must first give you the opportunity to remedy that omission within a set period before it can declare your appeal inadmissible (article 6:6 Awb). So in any case state which decision you are challenging, with your name, address, date and signature. After that, adhere strictly to the period for remedying the omission that the court sets.
By way of illustration. Someone receives a negative decision on their objection concerning an incapacity benefit and first wants to request the full medical file before responding on the merits. Requesting it takes weeks, and the six-week period keeps running in the meantime. He therefore submits a short notice of appeal within those six weeks and asks the court for a period in which to submit the grounds. The question is then no longer whether he was in time, but only whether he submits the supplement within the period given for remedying the omission. This is an example situation illustrating the rule, not a case handled by our firm.
What does the court review and what not?
The court assesses whether the decision on the objection is lawful — not whether UWV could have made a different, more lenient choice. The court rules on the basis of your notice of appeal, the documents and what was discussed at the hearing; it supplements the legal grounds itself, but it does not go looking for complaints you have not raised (article 8:69 Awb). In medical decisions, the court mainly reviews whether the examination by the insurance physician and the labour expert was careful and can be followed; it does not make a diagnosis itself. If it finds the appeal well-founded, it quashes the decision on the objection and UWV must decide again — this does not automatically mean a benefit is awarded.
What can you do if the court rules against you?
You can lodge a further appeal against the district court’s judgment with the Centrale Raad van Beroep (Central Appeals Tribunal) in Utrecht, again within six weeks. The Centrale Raad is the highest court for decisions on social insurance, such as the WW (Unemployment Insurance Act), the Ziektewet (Sickness Benefits Act) and the WIA (Work and Income according to Labour Capacity Act) (article 8:105 Awb in conjunction with chapter 4 of the Bevoegdheidsregeling bestuursrechtspraak (Administrative Jurisdiction Regulation)). A court fee is payable there as well. In most benefit cases the ruling of the Centrale Raad is the end of the proceedings; an appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court is only possible in a limited number of cases.
Do you want to know how the objection phase itself works, or are you still in it? Then read our page on objecting to a UWV decision.
When things go wrong
The deadline has passed. Six weeks is short and the clock runs from the day after the announcement, not from the moment you read the letter. Only if you cannot reasonably be blamed will a declaration of inadmissibility be avoided (article 6:11 Awb) — and this is applied strictly.
The court fee was not paid, or was paid too late. Anyone invoking inability to pay must also do so in time and substantiate it with up-to-date documents; if the request is rejected, pay straight away within the period stated by the court.
The appeal merely repeats the objection. The court assesses the decision on the objection, so you must identify what is wrong with it: which medical or labour-related point was not examined, which documents were ignored, which reasoning is incorrect.
Consult a lawyer
Unsure whether an appeal makes sense, or is your deadline about to expire? Call 070 450 0300 or send your documents via arslan.nl/contact. The first consultation is free of charge and confidential. We have six offices and can also help you in Turkish, Polish and English.