Someone who helps organise your question, prepares meetings with you and explains which route may apply, without deciding your application.
Free support is available when Dutch care, social support or the rules around them become difficult to navigate.
An independent client support adviser can help you find the route, prepare a meeting and attend an appointment. The adviser knows local services but does not decide whether you receive a service or indication. That decision remains with the municipality, CIZ, a healthcare professional or another authorised organisation.
You can ask for support before applying, during an assessment or after receiving a decision. The main route depends on whether you already have a Wlz indication.
Work out what is difficult in daily life, which help is already involved and where the remaining gap lies. This helps you enter an application or meeting with a clearer account of what is needed.
Decide beforehand which subjects should be discussed, which documents matter and which questions you want to ask. You can also agree who will take notes during the meeting.
An adviser can attend a meeting such as a municipal home assessment. Agree in advance whether the adviser should mainly listen, ask questions or explain part of your situation.
The adviser can help you understand a letter, the agreements made and the routes that may follow. They can help organise information for an objection; separate legal advice may still be needed.
The adviser should stand beside you and work from your interests. You can ask which organisation employs them, who commissioned the service and how independence and privacy are protected.
A client support adviser knows the routes but cannot award a Wmo service, Wlz indication or medical treatment. They also cannot guarantee that an application will be approved.
Anyone in the Netherlands can request free client support through their municipality for care and support questions. This may concern the Wmo, youth care, district nursing, housing, education, work or income. You do not need a Wmo decision or rejection first.
Each municipality organises the service differently. You may be able to contact the provider directly, while some municipalities ask you to contact them first. Regelhulp provides an official list by municipality.
If you have an indication under the Long-term Care Act, the regional care office is the first contact for support with arranging Wlz care. You can receive support from the care office or ask about an independent organisation operating in the region.
If you do not yet have a Wlz indication, municipal client support can help you explore or prepare that application. Once you have an indication, use the official list by care office.
Without a Wlz indication, search the municipal overview. With a Wlz indication, use the overview organised by regional care office.
Use this exact description when calling or emailing. Municipalities may use a different local name, but must make independent support available.
A short explanation is enough for the first contact: which organisation is involved, which meeting or decision is approaching and what kind of help you need. You do not have to share your entire medical history immediately.
If several providers or advisers operate locally, ask whether you can choose and what experience they have with your type of question. Specialist client support may suit a particularly complex situation.
Ask when someone will contact you, what you should bring and whether the adviser can attend the planned meeting. Record the date, name and contact details for yourself.
A short overview is enough. You do not need to build a complete case file.
Ask in writing which organisation provides independent client support and how you can contact it directly. You can also use Regelhulp's national overview to find the information for your municipality.
Note when you asked, who you spoke to and the answer you received. If information or access remains unavailable, use the municipality's complaints route. After the municipal procedure, the relevant ombuds service may be able to help.
It helps to request support and ask both organisations to put their assessment and referral in writing.
Was client support offered automatically, did you have to find it yourself, or could nobody tell you who provides it? Your experience helps show where this free service does and does not reach people. You may share anonymously.
