The intake interview: Taking the first step together
In my previous column I talked about how to register for debt counseling. Now the next step; the intake. Just as with the application, we see a big difference in the interests of the various entrepreneurs during the intake interview. For example, I once had an interview with a lady who had more than one hundred and fifty thousand euros in debt to a bank. During the conversation I explained to her that during a process it was necessary to open a checking account with a bank where she had no debts. She thought my request was unprecedented. She had an emotional bond with her bank and thus her checking account. She did not care that the bank would have the option to set off the outstanding debt against the balance on its checking account. She wanted to keep her checking account!
I think many cannot imagine that a payment account is so important, but during such a conversation we have to deal with all these different interests and interests.
For example, we see many entrepreneurs where it is not possible to keep the car during a journey because it is not necessary for business operations, for example. Then the car is too expensive and the money has to go to the creditors. That's how the rules are ... Many entrepreneurs have great difficulty with this. The car is not only very handy with the kids / groceries, but also almost a status symbol. The same applies if people have to move because they have too expensive a rental home. Where should they go? And what about the children? The interest of the entrepreneur who may have lived there for a long time, or who has children at school, is very different from the interest of the creditor who would like to see as much of his claim repaid as possible. Another good example is when a couple decides that they do not want to settle together because debt has created too much pressure and the marriage can no longer handle the stress. Our advisors discuss with the entrepreneur how best to deal with this during a process.
In addition to large differences in interests, we also see very diverse behavior among the entrepreneur. In a previous column I mentioned that many of the entrepreneurs who supply bank statements to us are members of a lottery. Almost all statements we receive show a depreciation from the postcode or bank giro lottery. We don't know if that is coincidence, of course, but we do know that research has shown that people who suffer from debt for a long time and experience a feeling of scarcity and therefore have problems making long-term decisions.
In the documentary Guilty of the NPO you see Ron and Ramona. They and their son have been evacuated from their rental home and the three of them now live in the attic of Ramona's parents. Doras, the debt counselor, and the housing cooperative make every effort to restore the family, but due to the payment behavior of the family, they make it a requirement that the family be placed under protective government. They may then no longer have access to their own money. Ron does not like this at all you see in the fragment. Because "if his son wants a pair of shoes worth 150 euros, he just wants to be able to buy them."
Of course, we see this behavior more often with the debtor. Everyone would of course like to keep access to their own funds and we understand the first reaction of Ron. It is then up to us to convince the entrepreneur to cooperate with the difficult rules of a debt settlement process. It is good to explain that a house is of course much more important to the family than those shoes! We do this of course during the intake interview, but also during the stabilization phase, which will be discussed more next time.
Manon Luitjens-Bakker, team leader insolvency at Zuidweg & Partners