Custom debt assistance software development
Appfront builds custom software for municipal debt assistance: from registration and intake to debt overview, voluntary debt settlement, budget management and early warning under the Dutch Municipal Debt Assistance Act (Wgs). Privacy by design, with data minimisation, strict authorisation and complete logging, tailored to your policy rules, your partner organisations and the statutory deadlines. For municipalities, credit banks and social neighbourhood teams that want to deliver debt assistance demonstrably and carefully.
What is debt assistance software?
Debt assistance software supports the complete process a municipality carries out under the Municipal Debt Assistance Act (Wgs). From the first registration and intake, through a full debt overview and the voluntary debt settlement with creditors, to budget management, case records and the statutory task of early warning. Everything serves one goal: helping residents with (impending) problem debts promptly and carefully.
Off-the-shelf packages often force your way of working into a fixed mould. Debt assistance, however, differs greatly between municipalities: in policy rules, in cooperation with the credit bank and neighbourhood teams, and in how the voluntary settlement and budget management are organised. Custom software fits your process rather than the other way round, and can grow along with changes in legislation or your way of working. That prevents shadow administration in loose spreadsheets and keeps the case file complete and traceable.
Because this involves highly sensitive data — income, debts, attachments and often special category personal data — we build in privacy by design and data minimisation from the architecture up. Read more about our broader approach to software for municipalities and custom software.
One case file per resident
Intake, debt overview, arrangement, budget management and contact moments in one coherent case file. Debt assistance officers work from a single place and keep track of everything, without retyping data from separate systems or folders.
Early warning as a workflow
Signals from fixed-cost partners about payment arrears come in, are matched and placed in a workflow with deadline monitoring. This allows you to follow up in time on your statutory duty and demonstrate that you have done so.
Demonstrable and traceable
Every step, decision and access is recorded. That gives the municipality control and accountability towards the executive and council, and helps you meet the requirements on lawfulness, privacy and information security.
How we build your debt assistance software
We work step by step and involve your debt assistance officers, privacy and information security specialists early in the project. From a thorough exploration of your process, policy rules and chain partners through to go-live and ongoing management, every step is aimed at software your team understands, trusts and can demonstrably use securely.
We map out your process: registration and intake, the voluntary settlement, budget management, early warning and the integrations required. Together we determine which legal bases, data and authorisations are needed, and what can be left out.
We design the architecture, case model and authorisation model with data minimisation and privacy by design as the starting point, plus the approach to logging, retention periods and integrations.
We build in short iterations with automated tests, structured logging and monitoring. You see working versions along the way and help steer priorities and alignment with day-to-day practice.
Controlled go-live with data validation and a safety net, followed by ongoing management, monitoring and further development as your way of working or the law changes.
What debt assistance software actually does
We tailor every application specifically to your process, policy rules and chain partners. Below are the functionalities we most often deliver for organisations carrying out debt assistance under the Wgs.
Registration & intake
An accessible registration for residents, followed by a structured intake. Personal details can be verified via a BRP integration and income data retrieved via Suwinet, so the caseworker starts with a complete and up-to-date picture.
Debt overview
A complete overview of debts, creditors, attachments and repayment capacity. Case files stay current, duplicate entry is prevented, and the officer keeps sight of the overall picture needed to reach an arrangement.
Out-of-court debt arrangement
Support for the out-of-court procedure in line with your organisation's way of working and the NVVK guidelines: from stabilisation to debt mediation or a debt restructuring loan, with deadline monitoring, proposals to creditors and traceable decision-making.
Budget management
Insight into income, fixed costs, reserves and living allowance, with the ability to schedule and track payments. The resident keeps an overview, and the municipality can carry out budget management carefully and in a verifiable way.
Early warning
Signals of payment arrears from fixed-cost partners are received, matched and assigned, with monitoring of the statutory follow-up deadline. This gives you the first step towards a timely offer of help and keeps you in control of what has been followed up.
Reporting & accountability
Aggregated management information on applications, processing times, ongoing cases and followed-up signals, based on minimised data. This supports your policy and accountability to the executive board and council, while protecting privacy.
Who we build debt assistance software for
Debt assistance is delivered by several organisations, each with its own role in the chain. For each of them we build software that fits their task, their policy rules and their collaboration with other parties.
Municipal debt assistance
Municipal departments that carry out the full Wgs process: intake, voluntary settlement, budget management and early warning, with control and accountability towards the executive and council. See also our software for municipalities.
Credit banks
Municipal and regional credit banks that run debt settlements, debt restructuring loans and budget management. The software supports the financial process with repayment administration, deadline monitoring and traceable decision-making towards creditors.
Social neighbourhood teams
Neighbourhood teams that identify residents facing money problems at an early stage and hand them over to debt assistance with a warm referral. With the right authorisation and data separation, they can fulfil their role without unnecessary access to the full financial file. A good customer contact system keeps the lines short.
Implementing organisations on commission
Organisations that provide debt assistance and budget management on behalf of one or more municipalities. They need a clear separation per client, complete logging and transparent accountability, so that each municipality retains control over its own residents and data.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and government integrations
We build with a modern, maintainable web stack and integrate with national government services where needed. For debt assistance, the most relevant are Suwinet for income and benefit data, the BRP integration for personal data, and DigiD for secure identification of residents. We set up every integration with data minimisation and the correct legal basis, so that only what the statutory task requires is requested.
Why choose Appfront for your debt assistance software?
Appfront builds custom software for the public sector and always starts with a thorough analysis of your process, policy rules and chain partners. Debt assistance software must not only work technically, but also fit the care and the legal frameworks in which your team operates.
We build in privacy by design and data minimisation from the architecture onwards, and we write clear documentation so that your own team, or any future supplier, can understand and manage the software. No black box, but transparent code and clear agreements on authorisation, logging, monitoring and management.
You work with a dedicated point of contact who understands both the technology and the day-to-day practice of debt assistance. This keeps the lines short, prevents miscommunication and speeds up decisions whenever choices need to be made during the build.
See also our wider services for the public sector: software for municipalities, custom software, a municipality website and AI for municipalities and government. Do you have questions? Get in touch with us.
- Custom software for the public sector
- Privacy by design and data minimisation as a starting point
- Experienced with government integrations such as Suwinet, BRP and DigiD
- Built in line with the GDPR and the Baseline Information Security for Government (BIO)
- Accessible interfaces in line with WCAG 2.1 AA and DigiToegankelijk
- Role-based authorisation and comprehensive audit logging
- Clear documentation your team can read and manage
- A fixed point of contact, no account managers passed around
- Ongoing maintenance and development as the law changes
- A way of working aligned with your existing IT landscape
Security and privacy in debt assistance software
Debt assistance handles highly sensitive personal data: income, debts, attachments and often special category personal data. That is why privacy by design sits at the heart of our approach. For each data flow we document the legal basis for processing, apply data minimisation and set up authorisation based on role and necessity, so that a neighbourhood team member does not automatically see the complete financial file. Every access and change is logged, so it is always traceable who has viewed which case.
We build in line with the Baseline Informatiebeveiliging Overheid (BIO, the Dutch government information security baseline) and the GDPR, with encryption in transit and at rest, separation of case files between teams and retention periods aligned with the Wgs. Interfaces used by residents are made accessible in line with WCAG 2.1 level AA and DigiToegankelijk. We document data flows and authorisations so that your register of processing activities remains complete and you can demonstrably stay in control.
Read more about our security approach: information security policy and vulnerability disclosure policy. Discuss your situation without obligation via our contact form.
- GDPR-compliant data processing and data minimisation
- A documented lawful basis for each data flow
- Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest
- Role-based access and least-privilege principles
- Separation of case files between teams and clients
- Complete audit logging of access and changes
- Retention periods aligned with the Wgs
- Built to the BIO, with documentation for your record of processing activities
Frequently asked questions about debt assistance software
Answers to the questions we receive most often about custom software for debt assistance.
Debt assistance software supports the entire process a municipality carries out under the Municipal Debt Assistance Act (Wgs): registration and intake, building a complete debt overview, negotiated debt settlement with creditors, budget management, case management and early detection of payment arrears. Custom software lets you set up this process around your own policy rules and way of working, rather than forcing you to adapt your approach to a standard package. Because the data is highly sensitive, privacy by design is central.
Early detection has been a statutory task for municipalities since 1 January 2021 under the amended Wgs. Mandatory partners — housing associations, water companies, energy suppliers and health insurers — may pass on signals about payment arrears to the municipality. The municipality must follow these up and proactively offer residents assistance. Software supports this by receiving incoming signals, matching, enriching and placing them in a workflow with deadline monitoring, so that follow-up happens on time and can be demonstrated. We always verify the behaviour against the current law and the guidelines of VNG and NVVK.
We build custom software. Debt assistance differs from one municipality to another in policy rules, partnerships, chain partners and the way intake and negotiated arrangements are organised. Custom software fits your actual process and can grow with you as legislation or your way of working changes. After an intake meeting, we agree together which functionality matters most and the order in which we build it, without promising a fixed timeline or price we cannot yet substantiate.
A reliable debt overview and a careful intake often require integrations with national services. Income and benefit data runs through Suwinet, personal data through the Personal Records Database (BRP), and residents can identify themselves securely via DigiD. We build these integrations with data minimisation as the starting point: only the data needed for the statutory task is requested, with the correct legal basis and logging.
Debt assistance data is highly sensitive: income, debts, attachments and often special category personal data. We build privacy by design and data minimisation in from the architecture onwards. That means a documented lawful basis for each data flow, authorisation based on role and need-to-know, separation of case files between teams, retention periods aligned with the Wgs, and rigorous logging of who views which case. This allows you to demonstrate compliance with the GDPR and the Dutch Baseline Information Security for Government (BIO).
Yes. We build government software in accordance with the Dutch Baseline Information Security for Government (BIO) and the GDPR, and we make citizen-facing interfaces accessible under WCAG 2.1 level AA, in line with DigiToegankelijk. We follow OWASP security standards, with encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access, audit trails and monitoring. We document data flows and authorisations so that your processing register stays complete.
Yes. We regularly take over existing applications, including those built by another party. We review the architecture, integrations, authorisation model, logging and security, document the current setup and propose improvements. From that point on, we can handle changes, integrations and monitoring, or modernise step by step towards a maintainable setup.
We build for organisations that deliver debt assistance under the Wgs: municipal debt assistance departments, municipal and regional credit banks, neighbourhood social teams, and organisations that provide debt assistance and budget management on behalf of municipalities. The software supports both the work of the debt assistance caseworker and the oversight and accountability the municipality needs, with attention to collaboration with chain partners.
Ready to build your debt assistance software?
Tell us how your debt assistance is set up and where you run into difficulties, from intake and the negotiated settlement through to budget management and early warning signals. We're happy to think along with you on process, integrations, privacy and information security. In a no-obligation first conversation, you'll get a clear picture of what custom software for your municipality could look like.