Surprise home visits on the unemployed get go-ahead

The state secretary for the fight against welfare fraud, Bart Tommelein (Open VLD), made clear his determination to step up the fight against fraud, by announcing on Monday the authorisation of unannounced inspections at the homes of individuals on unemployment benefit.

Acccording to the current regulation, introduced by Laurette Onkelinx in 2000, National Employment Office (ONEM/RVA) inspectors are legally obliged to forewarn unemployed people of a home visit. Before visiting a person at home, they must also organise a hearing with them at a national employment office and give ten days notice of this hearing. "All of which means," said Tommelein, "that a fraudster has plenty of time of time to get organised. And the measure, rather than actually tackling fraud, promotes it."

Last year, the National Employment Office registered 10,566 cases of benefit fraud. Some 21,970 fraud checks, meanwhile, revealed nothing unusual. In 2013, 8,379 cases of benefit fraud were registered, whilst 23,995 fraud checks at home revealed nothing irregular.

Tommelein has subsquently done away with the need for inspectors to forewarn an individual on unemployment benefit of an intended visit at their home. "Inspectors will only make home visits when there are serious suspicions of abuse, for example, after checking energy and water bills. And of course they will not be able to break into an individual’s home. The person in question must give their authoristation first," said Tommelein.

The state secretary is hoping his new measure will act as a deterrent to commit fraud. "The risk of getting caught will rise. This year, we’ll proabably see fraudster statistics rise as a result. But in the long term, these numbers should go down."