Working method Wetswinkel Almere
You can only come to one of our consultation hours with an appointment. During a personal conversation, where your privacy is guaranteed, we discuss your problem / situation (for place and time see consultation hours).
It is important for you and for us that you already organize your documents, preferably in chronological order. This saves a lot of time during the interview and provides a check whether you have brought all the papers with you.
We will review the situation with you and ensure that you understand it and know exactly what is in the documents. Then we look together for possible solutions. These can also be non-legal solutions: they are often faster and simpler. It is not always necessary to engage a lawyer and / or litigate. However, if a referral is necessary, we will refer you to a lawyer, social counsel or another expert.
Our advice is completely free. If you need more help after this, we can guide you in solving the problem or we can mediate. We believe in self-reliance. You can do a lot yourself, possibly with our support. We do not litigate, we will refer you.
Our employees have signed a confidentiality statement. Employees who make a home visit have a VOG (Certificate of Behavior). (See also our Terms and Conditions)
Our vision:
Our vision is to advise the Almeerder in a dedicated, accessible and accessible manner about legal and debt problems.
Our mission:
Our mission is to make the Almeerder more self-aware and self-reliant, so that he can and dares to take his own responsibility.
This distinguishes us from other social assistance agencies.
My name? What about my privacy?
We like to be able to address you personally. That’s why we ask you for your name, but we don’t keep it unless we need to refer you to our debt counselors or other counseling agency. You have to sign for that, because without your permission we will not forward your personal data or use it for other purposes than for which we need it. We are not allowed to do that by law.
In addition, all of our volunteers have signed a nondisclosure agreement, so we will handle your data and information very carefully.
Our debt counselors can possibly make a home visit and are in possession of a so-called VOG (“Declaration of Behavior”). Such a statement is issued by the Ministry of Justice, which can be determined to be of irreproachable conduct. That in itself does not offer you a full guarantee, but we want to be careful (see also our General Terms and Conditions).
The papers
Whether you come for a legal or financial problem, often many letters, agreements or e-mails are involved. Of course we want to get to the heart of your problem quickly with you. It will of course help if you first collect all this in order of arrival (date) and order it neatly.
The language used by agencies is often very formal and not always understandably written. Our volunteers are used to that and can use that, in addition to what you explain, to come to advice. So do not forget to bring all letters and documents related to your question to the consultation hour.
The solution?
The Wetswinkel does not always have the solution to your problem. Sometimes the solution lies elsewhere, for example with another care provider or legal authority. Then we refer you to it, for example to a lawyer, Social Counselor or the district team. We do ensure that you understand why it is necessary and that you know what to expect there. So you are well prepared in any case when you go there.
Why refer?
If we cannot provide the solution ourselves or if we think that a procedure should be started in your situation, we must refer you to another care or legal agency, such as a lawyer or other care provider. This is because the relevant body can help you further and elaborate our advice because it is more specialized, or because we (as volunteers) do not have time available to guide you further.
First-line advice: what is that?
First-line advice means that we must be able to give you advice within the time of your visit to the consultation hour. But also that we discuss with you the possibilities to tackle your problem. De Wetswinkel is a volunteer organization with legally trained and experienced volunteers. The volunteers have extensive experience in practice or are advanced with their law studies.
This means that our volunteers have their own daytime job or have to study. As a result, they do not have time to start a procedure for you or to an extensive legal investigation or (long-term) treatment and we must limit ourselves to first-line advice. Of course, don’t let that stop you from coming back to another consultation hour. For example, to have us review the letter written with our directions. You’re always welcome!
Who will help you?
During the consultation hours you will find very experienced and involved volunteers.
They are able to clarify and explain any legal and / or official language for you. They are aware of all kinds of possibilities to help and guide you. The walk-in consultation hour is provided by lawyers and prospective lawyers. They are assisted by experts in debt relief counseling and taxation.
The Wetswinkel has been a household name in Almere since 1982. Over the years, the Wetswinkel has successfully helped many people and assisted them with their problems.
We do not fill in your tax form. There are other agencies that can help you with this.