Written by Ömür Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten (social security law). Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar (Nederlandse orde van advocaten) for tenancy law and social security law.
Nederlands: Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands: DUO vordert uw uitwonendenbeurs terug: bewijs, bezwaar en huisbezoek
Türkçe: Bu makaleyi Türkçe okuyun: DUO aileden ayrı yaşayan öğrenci bursunu geri istiyor: delil, itiraz ve ev ziyareti
Is DUO reclaiming your living-away-from-home grant (uitwonendenbeurs) because, according to the agency, you do not live at the address you gave? Request the full inspection file and check the period that was investigated. Registration in the Personal Records Database (BRP) alone does not prove that you actually live there, but a single isolated observation does not always tell the whole story either. Lodge an objection within six weeks against a decision you disagree with, and substantiate your actual living situation with appropriate documents.
A recovery claim can have a major impact on your studies and your financial situation. Perhaps you rent a room without an extensive contract, live with relatives or are temporarily staying elsewhere because of illness. It must then become clear what your day-to-day living situation actually looked like during the period concerned.
This article deals with the living-away-from-home grant and checks on your residential address. Old checks for which DUO has set up a redress or compensation scheme also require a separate assessment. That route is discussed further below.
When does DUO regard you as living away from home?
For the living-away-from-home grant, what matters is that you are registered at an address other than your parents’ and actually live there. DUO, the Dutch Education Executive Agency, can check whether the information matches the actual situation. The agency describes this on the page checks by DUO.
A tenancy agreement is an important document, but it does not in itself show where you actually live. Conversely, living with a relative may be possible without a customary commercial tenancy agreement. The assessment must reflect the facts and the conditions that apply to your student finance.
Therefore distinguish between your administrative registration, your right to use the room and your actual use of it. A carefully prepared file links these three elements together.
Which decision have you received?
DUO may send a request for information, a notice, investigation findings or a formal decision. Not every letter has the same function. Read whether you may still add information or whether your entitlement has already been adjusted and an amount is being reclaimed.
With a decision, what matters is which months are being revised and what amount follows from that. If a fine is also mentioned, treat it as a separate legal issue. The assessment of a fine is not automatically the same as the question whether too much grant was received.
Keep all messages from Mijn DUO and your post. For each document, note the date, the reference number and the response expected from you. A telephone conversation about the content does not automatically replace a formal objection within the time limit.
Why BRP registration is not enough
Registration in the Personal Records Database is an administrative fact. For the living-away-from-home grant, your actual living situation is also considered. A change of address can therefore not be used as a substitute for actually moving.
If you did actually live at the address, set out how this can be shown. Think of the use of the room, personal belongings, daily routines and payments. The significance of each piece of information depends on the period and the other information.
A registration that was not updated in time can also be a problem. In that case, describe precisely when you moved, when you reported the change and why a discrepancy arose. Have it assessed what this means for your entitlement in the months concerned.
Gathering your tenancy agreement and payments
A tenancy agreement can make clear which space you were allowed to use and from when. Add proof of payment that corresponds to the period investigated. Check whether amounts, names and dates are understandable to someone who does not know your situation.
If you pay a main tenant rather than the owner, explain that connection. A transfer to a person other than the contracting party need not be inexplicable, but it does require context.
If you have no written contract, describe the arrangements and gather existing supporting information. A statement from the landlord can help if it is specific about the space, the period and the actual situation. Do not draw up a backdated contract that wrongly gives the impression that it existed earlier.
Living with relatives is not automatically living at home
A room at the home of an uncle, aunt, brother or sister may in fact be a different living situation from living with your parents. However, this must be apparent from your registration and your actual residence. The family relationship in itself does not answer the question of where you live.
Describe how the household is organised. Which space do you use, where are your everyday belongings and how are costs or practical matters arranged? If you do not pay rent, be clear about that and explain which arrangements do exist.
Make sure statements reflect what the person concerned knows first-hand. A relative can describe what they have observed, but does not need to state that you are legally entitled to a living-away-from-home grant. The factual information is the relevant starting point.
Staying temporarily with your parents or elsewhere
Students are not at the same address every night. Visits, holidays, an internship or illness can explain a temporary stay elsewhere. That does not automatically mean that your main residence has changed, but the duration and circumstances may well be important.
Draw up an honest timeline. State where you stayed, why and what connection with the declared home remained. Think of ongoing rent, a room still available to you and your own furnishings. None of these elements decides the entire dispute on its own.
A period that you yourself call temporary may in fact have been longer or more structural. So avoid relying on a label alone. Have the concrete facts assessed and report changes in your living situation in good time in accordance with DUO’s instructions.
How does a current DUO home visit work?
DUO describes its current home visits as checks for which an appointment is made. Participation is voluntary: according to the agency, refusing or withdrawing consent has no consequences for the living-away-from-home grant. This is stated on the page living-away-from-home grant check: home visit.
This approach must be distinguished from home visits relating to other benefits and from historical DUO checks. Therefore do not use general advice about social assistance benefit as an answer to a question about a current DUO visit.
The voluntary nature of the visit does not mean that DUO cannot check information about your entitlement in other ways. So respond to separate requests for information and keep your details accurate. Discuss any uncertainty about a visit directly with DUO and keep the explanation you receive.
Checking the report of a home visit
Request the report and read it carefully. Which rooms were inspected, which questions were asked and how were your answers recorded? A summary may unintentionally be more definite than what you actually said.
DUO states a period of five working days for corrections to the statement after a current home visit. Use the instructions you receive with the report. Report errors specifically: which passage is incorrect, what did you actually say and which existing information supports this?
A general remark that the conversation was unpleasant does not correct a factual inaccuracy. It may, however, be a separate point of complaint. Keep the substantive correction and a complaint about how you were treated clearly apart, so that both issues can be dealt with properly.
Personal belongings: significance and context
The presence or absence of belongings can raise questions about the use of a room. Even so, it matters which belongings were actually looked at and what explanation there is for them. A furnished room or a shared laundry room may be set up differently from a self-contained home.
Explain where everyday items are kept if this is relevant to the investigation. Think of study materials, clothing or toiletries. Do not stage a situation and do not move belongings to create a different impression afterwards.
Photos can sometimes support an existing situation, but their date and context are important. A photo taken after the period investigated does not automatically prove how you lived months earlier. So be honest about when and why an image was taken.
Statements from the landlord, housemates and neighbours
A useful statement is specific. Have the author state who they are, what their relationship to you is, which period the statement covers and what they have personally observed. Concrete examples are easier to verify than general wording.
A housemate can, for example, explain how the room was used and what day-to-day interactions there were. A landlord can confirm the arrangements and payments. A neighbour can only give evidence about what they have seen or heard themselves.
Do not coordinate stories with one another. Differences in observation are not unusual: nobody sees you all day. Honest limits to what someone knows generally make a statement more credible than an unnaturally complete account.
Check the entire recovery period
An investigation on a single date can lead to a decision covering several months. Ask which legal basis and which facts are being relied on. Have it assessed how DUO gets from the observations to the chosen start and end dates.
Evidence of your residential address must therefore match the disputed period. A rent payment from September does not automatically help in a dispute about January. Show, month by month, which information is available and where circumstances changed.
Also check the calculation. Which amounts were paid out, what entitlement does DUO substitute for them and what is the difference? If the recovery covers several components of student finance, ask for a clear breakdown. Not every component necessarily follows the same reasoning.
How to organise evidence of your living situation
| Element | Examples of information | Point to note |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Historical address data and confirmation of the move. | Show which administrative registration applied in each period. |
| Use of the room | Existing correspondence, furnishings and specific statements. | Make clear what the information says about actually living there. |
| Payments | Rent, contributions and arrangements about costs. | Link each payment to the right person, space and month. |
| Temporary stay elsewhere | Information relating to an internship, travel or care. | Explain the duration, the reason and the connection with your own residential address. |
| Investigation report | Your corrections with references to passages. | Distinguish established facts, assumptions and missing context. |
Be selective in what you gather. You do not need to share your entire private life indiscriminately. Discuss which information is needed and how it can be submitted securely. A short overview with numbered enclosures makes the evidence easier to follow.
Lodging an objection within six weeks
DUO states a period of six weeks for lodging an objection. The current page states that a notice of objection must be submitted by post; objecting digitally or by email is not possible there. Check DUO’s instructions for lodging an objection and the notice of legal remedies in your decision.
Include your details, the decision, the grounds for your objection and your signature. Keep a copy and proof of posting. Do not wait until all statements have been gathered if this would cause you to miss the time limit.
If necessary, request the file and an opportunity to supplement your grounds. Put your main objections first: your actual living situation, a careless investigation, the period chosen or an incorrect calculation. State what you consider the correct assessment to be.
Payment, deferral and a possible fine
An objection does not automatically mean that you do not have to pay. Therefore contact DUO separately about collection if payment is not feasible. Ask which payment arrangement or temporary deferral is possible and have any arrangements confirmed.
A payment arrangement does not mean that you have to abandon your substantive objection. Make it clear if you continue to dispute the debt. Keep financial documents that show the consequences of immediate payment.
If a fine has also been imposed, check that decision separately. Factors such as the offence and culpability play a role. An incorrect address registration, a recovery claim and a fine are not three words for the same decision. For each element, it must be considered which facts and arguments are relevant.
Old checks: redress and compensation from 2026
For historical checks, DUO has described a separate redress and compensation process. In April 2026, the agency announced how compensation will be handled for groups of students who received a home visit in previous years. DUO distinguishes between visits with and without an imposed financial measure, with separate attention for earlier pilots.
According to that announcement, the handling of compensation will start after the summer of 2026. For the group with a financial measure, an amount of €2,000 is mentioned, with the possibility of a tailored approach if that amount is not appropriate; for the group described without a measure, €500. Read the conditions and scope at DUO: compensation for living-away-from-home grant checks.
An old case therefore does not automatically belong exclusively in a new regular objection. Check whether you have received a redress letter and which choice or response it asks for. In the meantime, you must still deal in good time with any new decision for which an objection period is running.
Fictional example: temporarily away for an internship
A student rents a room and stays elsewhere for a few weeks for an internship. During a check, a dispute arises as to whether he still lives at the declared address. In the file, the temporary absence is linked to a longer period without further explanation.
A targeted response includes the internship period, the ongoing arrangements for the room and documents about the use of the home before and after those weeks. It honestly describes how the stay was arranged. The objection then asks for an assessment of the correct period and all relevant facts.
This example is fictional and does not give a fixed outcome for internships. It shows why the reason for and duration of an absence must be linked to the overall picture of where you live.
Moving house during the objection procedure
If you move while an objection about your old address is pending, pass on your new details in good time. A current change of address does not automatically resolve the dispute about the earlier period. Keep both periods separate in your records.
Keep the end date of the old housing arrangement, the start of the new one and the related registrations. This prevents evidence about your new room from being wrongly read as a description of the old situation.
In new correspondence, state clearly which months a document relates to. A recent tenancy agreement can support your current entitlement, but does not automatically show where you lived six months earlier. For the recovery claim, targeted evidence about the original period remains necessary.
Frequently asked questions about recovery of the living-away-from-home grant
Does my tenancy agreement prove that I live away from home?
A contract supports the fact that you were allowed to use a room. DUO also looks at your registration and your actual living situation. Therefore combine the contract with information about payments and actually living there during the period investigated.
May I live with a relative?
The family relationship alone does not determine whether you live away from home. The applicable conditions, your BRP address and your actual residence are important. Describe the arrangements and the actual situation in full, even if you do not pay a commercial rent.
Do I have to accept a current DUO home visit?
DUO describes participation in current home visits as voluntary and states that refusal has no consequences for the living-away-from-home grant. That does not remove separate obligations to provide information. Check the current invitation and procedure for your own check.
Can I lodge an objection by email?
DUO’s current objection page requires submission by post. Follow the instructions in your decision and on that page. An email with questions or a complaint is not automatically a valid notice of objection.
Will I automatically receive compensation for an old check?
That depends on the group, the period and the conditions of the redress or compensation process. Read DUO’s letter and the current information carefully. A general reference to old checks is no guarantee that your situation falls under a particular scheme.
How can a lawyer help?
A lawyer can assess the inspection file, the recovery period, the calculation and any fine. It can also be examined how a historical case relates to the redress process. Submit your letters and timeline via contact with Arslan Advocaten. More information is available under administrative law.
Read also
Home visits for social assistance benefit: your rights and the consequences of refusing
Certificate of conduct (VOG) refused for an internship or training: what can you do?
Social assistance benefit and gifts, bank deposits or loans: when may the municipality reclaim?
