The story of the SVB

We are the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB)

The SVB was founded almost 125 years ago. We pay a variety of benefits and implement the schemes under which these benefits are paid. Our clients include elderly people, parents, surviving relatives, and various other groups of people. We also pay personal budgets and implement the benefit schemes for members of the resistance and victims of war.

We work for the Dutch government. Our main client is the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, but we also work for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

The SVB has a workforce of more than 4,500 people. Their job is to provide our clients with the best possible service, day in day out. These staff members:
  • assess your applications and claims
  • answer your questions 
  • make sure you get your money on time
Every year, we pay approximately €62 billion to around 5.6 million clients, 381,000 of whom live outside the Netherlands. Surveys have shown that our clients are satisfied with the services we provide.

We abide by the rules of the law, but we also look at what this means for our clients in actual practice—in other words, whether our way of working is in line with the spirit of the law. If it is not, we enter into a dialogue—with one another, but also with other government agencies or the legislator in The Hague. In this way, we try to find solutions together. We treat all our clients fairly and equally.

We work together extensively with other government agencies, for example:
  • with municipalities in paying personal budgets 
  • with the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst), the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) and the Education Executive Agency (DUO) in ensuring secure data exchange
  • on small pilot projects to help clients with financial problems
We increasingly work together as a single government agency, amongst other things in helping recipients of Anw survivor benefit to find work.

We are continuously working to improve our IT systems and ensure they are stable and secure. We are modernising these systems step by step, using new technologies to provide you with an even better service. At the same time, this enables us to respond quickly to changes in laws and regulations.
 
Smarter digital services allow us to do our work more quickly. We encourage our staff to work on their personal development so our organisation is always in motion.

We make sure you know what you are entitled to in good time—and also that you get what you are entitled to. We help you quickly and effectively, first time around, and will continue to do so, both now and in the future.

We implement 2 different kinds of schemes and legislation:

  • social insurance schemes and legislation by order of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment
  • non-social insurance schemes and legislation by order of other government agencies, in particular the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport

Around 381,000 of our clients live or work outside the Netherlands. This can have consequences for their pension, benefit or allowance. If you move to another country, your pension or benefit may have to be reduced or even stopped. Living and working outside the Netherlands could also affect your partner’s benefit.

Help and advice

There is a Bureau for German Affairs and a Bureau for Belgian Affairs specifically for people who work in Germany or Belgium but live in the Netherlands, or vice versa. In Ankara (Turkey), Rabat (Morocco) and Madrid (Spain), we are represented by social attachés.

Grensinfopunt

‘Grensinfopunt’ is a website where you can ask questions about living, working, doing business and studying abroad. It is a collaboration by the Bureaus for Belgian and German Affairs, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst). 

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