Modero's response to article trends “The battle over corona bills breaks loose”

In the latest edition of Trends, an article “The battle for corona invoices” was published that predicts an avalanche (or large increase) in unpaid invoices. The end of the COVID-19 support measures would be the cause of this and bailiffs and collection agencies would already line up and compete to collect these unpaid invoices.

Modero has it - just like the National Chamber of Bailiffs (NKGB) - difficult with these tendentious (and almost caricatural) predictions. Bailiffs are legally obliged to seek amicable recovery in all circumstances. At Modero, this legal obligation is anchored in daily practice: she settles 85% of the files entrusted to her amicably, with her employees actively looking for solutions to over-indebtedness.

But Modero is doing more and has been volunteering for years to find solutions to the problem of over-indebtedness from daily practice. The 'Modero One' project, which involves close cooperation with the Antwerp CPAS, has only one goal: to break the debt spiral of families with financial difficulties. The fact that Modero One's good results have resulted in the opportunity to offer this cooperation nationally and to make such tailor-made debt counseling possible with all Belgian bailiffs and all Belgian CPAS is a first but important step in the right direction.

It is evident that the problem of over-indebtedness deserves much more attention, but shooting at the messenger of bad news does not solve the problem, quite the contrary. A clear legal framework and appropriate recovery procedures that balance the rights and obligations of both creditor and debtor is also our request. We are therefore once again reaching out to all other parties involved in debt recovery to work together.

We will therefore continue to reach out to everyone who strives for a legal framework that imposes debt collection on all recoverers in a clear, balanced and dignified manner.