The notice period for insurance contracts will now be two months, instead of three currently, the new law provides. It will thus be possible for individuals to immediately terminate any policy as long as it has been active for a minimum of one year, and respecting the two-month notice period.
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Sending a registered letter for the termination of a contract will no longer be necessary: it will also be possible to carry out this process digitally, by means of an electronic signature (via Itsme for example). In the event of early termination, the policyholder will also benefit from a premium credit.
This reform also provides that consumers can ask their new insurer or broker to carry out the necessary termination formalities for them. The new insurer who is responsible for terminating the policy must, however, guarantee that the policyholder’s coverage continues despite the termination and transfer to another policy.
Career break
It will be the turn of teachers to have to complete the procedures electronically for any request for career break allowance, time credit or thematic leave. The obligation has been valid since July 1 for other sectors.
A transition period is planned until the end of December for teachers so that they can familiarize themselves with the online procedure.
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Concretely, to submit a request to the National Employment Office, you must: inform your employer; the latter completes his part of the benefit application via the Social Security portal; then, it is the worker who completes the request via the Break@work application; and finally, Onem sends its decision to the e-Box.
Bailiff fees
Bailiff rates will be modified from this 1is october. In their place, “simplified and transparent” prices will be introduced, explains the National Chamber of Bailiffs (CNHJ). The organization has also developed a new tool for calculating these rates online.
Bailiffs intervene when people or companies do not pay their invoices. However, in recent years they have been criticized for charging prices that are sometimes abusive and unclear. The CNHJ, in collaboration with political leaders, has therefore worked to modify these prices.
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Among the negotiated measures, the recovery of debts relating to basic services such as water, energy, health, telecommunications or school bills will now be at the lowest rate, regardless of the amount of the debt. A solidarity fund, funded by the profession itself, will also be set up to reduce costs.
Bailiffs will henceforth use fixed compensation and apply a recovery fee, fixed from the start of the recovery, without subsequent modification. This should make the breakdown of costs “more transparent”, according to the CNHJ.
The Chamber will also waive the deposit fee, previously due with each repayment under a monthly payment plan. Finally, the costs and acts linked to summons and searches will be replaced by a fixed application fee of 50 euros.
In order to verify each amount claimed and ensure that the statement provided by a bailiff is correct, the Chamber of Bailiffs has developed a new online tool on its site, the “tariff-checker”, which will be fully operational on 1is october. The CNHJ specifies that this tool will be updated daily “in the event of new legislation or modification”.
Increased intervention
Recognition of the status of beneficiary of the increased intervention (BIM) for isolated unemployed people and/or incapacitated for more than 3 months as well as for people recognized as disabled becomes automatic from 1is october. This simplified procedure was initially supposed to be launched in April, but was ultimately postponed for six months due to discussions at federal level.
This automation will make the increased intervention, which allows you to pay less for your health care or to benefit from certain social tariffs (energy, internet, public transport, etc.), more accessible. The targeted audiences, who are more financially vulnerable, will no longer have to carry out the first step of the procedure, which will now be automatic.
The mutual societies themselves will be responsible for verifying in advance the income of the people concerned on the basis of the authentic sources available to them for the detection of recent income.
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Until now, the BIM status was already automatically offered to people benefiting from the social integration income (RIS), the income guarantee for the elderly (Grapa), the allowance for the elderly (APA), the income replacement allowance for people with disabilities, as well as Mena (unaccompanied foreign minors), orphans and children with disabilities (66% minimum).
