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Dutch health insurance will be pricier in 2022: here’s what we can expect

Jen Lorimer 🇿🇼
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Dutch health insurance will be pricier in 2022: here’s what we can expect

It isn’t just gas, food, and houses that are getting more expensive: the health insurer DSW has announced that the monthly premium for the basic healthcare package will be €39 more expensive next year.

We can feel your panic levels rising. 🥵 Don’t worry, the €39 increase is for the year. On a monthly basis, health insurance will be €3,25 more than it is now.

Not insured by DSW? You’ll still be paying more too

Each year, DSW is the first insurer to announce its new healthcare premium. Other providers then usually follow suit with similar rate increases, RTL Nieuws reports.

READ MORE | 19 questions answered about Dutch health insurance in 2021

Subsidised by the government

According to DSW, the increase is necessary in order to cover rising costs, such as additional personnel in healthcare and more expensive medicines — and as you can imagine, coronavirus didn’t help the cause.

DSW actually stated that these additional costs would justify an increase of €7,50 per month, but luckily insurers are reimbursed part of their coronavirus costs by the state

The price rise calculated by DSW is similar to the €31 increase predicted by the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport on Budget Day — but at €39 it’s on the higher end. These increases are necessary, as the ministry predicts that in 2022, healthcare will cost an estimated €2 billion more than it did a year earlier. 😱

Considering changing your health insurance provider?

All insurers are obliged to announce their new premiums by November 12, at the latest. This gives consumers more than a month and a half to decide whether they want to switch providers. 📅

If this is something that’s on your mind, you must cancel your current insurance no later than December 31. You then have a whole month to choose a new insurer.

What are your thoughts on the increased cost of health insurance in 2022? Tell us in the comments below!

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No dates? It’s not you, it’s your typos, says new Dutch research

Farah Al Mazouni 🇸🇾 🇺🇸
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No dates? It’s not you, it’s your typos, says new Dutch research

Better get proofreading, because a Tilburg University study showed that typos and grammatical inaccuracies can make you less attractive. 🤯

In a study that examined 12,000 dating profiles from various dating apps and websites, researchers found that language errors or grammatical mistakes left a negative impact on how someone was viewed in terms of their attractiveness and character.

While other studies have found that if a participant found a person attractive they may be more forgiving of language errors, this study found otherwise. Instead, even if a person was attractive, their typos or grammar mistakes made them seem sloppy or less intelligent.

“The attractiveness of the person in the photo did not determine how much attention was paid to the text, nor how much impact any language errors had,” said PhD candidate Tess van der Zanden.

Never lose hope though, as the research results also showed that a third of the participants did not catch the errors at all.

Doctor’s orders

Based on the results of the study, Van der Zanden suggested a few tips and tricks for building a solid dating profile so, for the love of the Oxford comma, we knew it was important to spread the word. 🤓

The first tip is to “pay attention to both the photo and the text because people pay attention to both.” Van der Zanden recommends.

She says descriptive and colourful (or colourful) language such as metaphors and figures of speech instead of direct statements can give a boost. 🎨  “Don’t say, for example, ‘I can cook well,’ says Van der Zanden. “But: ‘I am a star in the kitchen’.”

Do you think grammar and spelling are a turn-on? Tell us more in the comments below!

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The night train from Amsterdam to Zurich is back

Nicole Ogden 🇹🇭 🇺🇸
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The night train from Amsterdam to Zurich is back

All aboard: starting on December 12, a night train from Amsterdam to Zurich will be ready to take on sleepy passengers. 🚄🙌

For five years, an overnight train to Zurich was put on hold. ⏸ But the cool overnight adventure returns as the daily route from Amsterdam to Zurich resumes operations as of December 12.

Departing from Amsterdam every day at 20:30, the train will be hitting up 18 different cities on the way to its final destination. The journey includes stops in Arnhem, Bonn, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Basel — according to Treinreiziger.nl.

Be careful: Make sure to stay up-to-date on the latest travel measures to and from the Netherlands.

Ride in style

The overnight train gives you lots of options to choose from for your journey. The train has eight normal seated carriages (€38), four reclining carriages (€50), and two sleeping carriages (€90).

The sleeping carriages are basically the first class of the night train, with a private washing facility and soft beds which can also be folded into chairs — a fit for royalties, or groups of them since each carriage has three beds total. 👸🤴

The reclining carriage can be considered the business class of the night train, where you can recline your seat back to catch some Zs. 😴

Breakfast included

Breakfast is also included in both the reclining and the sleeping carriages, although the breakfast for the latter is a bit fancier. In the reclining carriage, you can get some bread with jam and coffee or tea. Lekker! 🍴

If you’re thinking of taking a Swiss holiday, you can already book tickets for the train with NS International.

What do you think about the night train from Amsterdam to Zurich? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Feature Image: Chris.urs-o/Wikimedia Commons/CC4.0

Looking to book an Airbnb in Amsterdam? Maybe think again

Farah Al Mazouni 🇸🇾 🇺🇸
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1
Looking to book an Airbnb in Amsterdam? Maybe think again

Were you hoping to find a three-night Airbnb stay for your upcoming trip to Amsterdam? Well, we hate to be the bearer of bad news — but you may struggle. 😬

The rental platform Airbnb, among others, has lost major listing availability in Amsterdam due to a registration requirement enforced by the municipality.

As of April 2021, the city of Amsterdam requires a permit and a registration number from those who wish to rent out their property. And if you have no permit? You’ll have major problems — up to €21,750 in fines to be exact. 💸

The results: a drastic drop in Airbnb listings

Amsterdam is certainly not losing its popularity, but according to the NOS, the number of listed Airbnb addresses took a sharp drop from 16,648 to just 2,924. 😱

Combined with other providers such as Booking.com and Expedia, among others — the total number of short-term rental properties in the Dutch capital plummeted from 18,715 to 4,128.

A permit system to tackle Amsterdam’s housing crisis

The municipality’s latest addition regarding a registration number comes in as an effort to prevent houses from being solely rented out to tourists. Decisions that come as no surprise with the existing Dutch housing shortage out there. 🏚

There have been several attempts to restrict holiday rentals in Amsterdam, such as a maximum rental period of 30 days per year along with a maximum of four tenants at a time — all of which was impossible to track since platforms don’t share data. 💳

READ MORE | Amsterdam’s old city centre will be Airbnb-free from July 1

As a result, there are now several Airbnb guidelines in place for Amsterdam hosts. The website additionally deactivated any ads without a registration number as the company is actively cooperating with Amsterdam city’s measures.

What do you think of the latest measures and consequences of Amsterdam’s permit system? Tell us in the comments below!

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Travelling from the Netherlands? You could be in for stricter travel restrictions

Sarah O'Leary 🇮🇪
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5
Travelling from the Netherlands? You could be in for stricter travel restrictions

With the weather becoming chillier, the leaves turning from green to orange, and the return of the runny nose, the Netherlands has seen a new peak in coronavirus infections.

And as a result, it isn’t just the leaves that are turning darker. The country is expected to move from orange risk, to red risk on the EU coronavirus map, NU.nl reports.

What does this mean?

As many of us know by now, every Thursday the ECDC releases the EU coronavirus map. This indicates the coronavirus risk levels of European countries: with orange being the lowest risk, and dark red being the highest.

The risk levels are determined based on the number of coronavirus infections per 100,000 people. It takes over 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for a country to turn red (a.k.a, high-risk) on the ECDC map — and you know what we’re on now? As of Saturday, 130 per 100,000 in the past seven days. 😬

Yep. Things aren’t looking too good for the Netherlands. In fact, according to NU.nl, we’ve returned to the same level of cases as seen in the ‘Dancin’ with Janssen‘ era.

Ok, but what about travel?

So what does this mean if you are hoping to visit family this Christmas? Of course, we don’t have a crystal ball to stare into — but based on how countries reacted the last time we reached these numbers, travellers from the Netherlands will likely face tighter restrictions.

All will be revealed on Thursday. But for now, the best way to find this answer is to check what the restrictions are for travellers from high-risk countries in the country you wish to travel to. ✈️

Stay safe out there guys — and don’t take any risks with that runny nose. 🤧🙅

How do you feel about travel restrictions for Dutch travellers? Tell us in the comments below!

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Dutch HORECA rarely reprimanded for ignoring coronavirus measures

Nicole Ogden 🇹🇭 🇺🇸
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HORECA establishments aren’t complying with the coronavirus measures, and municipalities are not giving them so much as a warning for this.

On September 25, the Dutch government implemented new measures which required restaurants, cafés, cinemas, and other HORECA establishments to check for a corona pass upon entry and to close at midnight. ⏰

But surprise! According to NU.nl, many establishments are taking this measure more as a suggestion rather than a rule. And that’s totally fine according to municipalities. 😒

One in three visits aren’t checked

An investigation by I&O research revealed that one in three visits aren’t checked by establishments. Further, instead of municipalities giving warnings, they often simply talk to the establishments.

The issue of not checking corona passes is widespread in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, 14 warnings were given to establishments for not adhering to the measures.

So far, no city (except for Utrecht) has had to shut down a business yet. That’s nice, we guess? 🤷‍♀️

Wristbands to the rescue?

Cities like Eindhoven and Breda have started using a wristband system to check corona passes. The system appears to be quite efficient and allows establishments to check quickly. 🙌

While the Koninklijke HORECA Nederland (KHN) has not responded to the findings of the investigation, they did say that wristbands could help make things easier.

“Everything that ensures that catering entrepreneurs have to deal with less operational worries and burden and that ensures more understanding among guests is welcome,” said a KHN spokesperson.

What do you think about cities not giving warnings to HORECA establishments? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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You’re under arrest: thousands of Dutchies targeted by phishing calls

Jen Lorimer 🇿🇼
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You’re under arrest: thousands of Dutchies targeted by phishing calls

Since August, thousands of Dutchies have received suspicious phone calls in which cyber-criminals try to get their personal information, such as citizen service (BSN) numbers.

“This is to inform you that your BSN number has been closed down due to criminal activity. Send your BSN number to…”

Over the past few weeks, the Fraud Helpdesk has received 2,300 reports of suspicious phone calls like this, RTL Nieuws reports.

Fake police

According to a spokesperson, “The callers often pretend to be from the National Police or the Dutch Supreme Court.” When victims answer the phone, they hear a prerecorded message in English. This is usually something like, “Your social security number is being misused” or “You have an arrest warrant against you.” 😅

Victims are then asked to enter a number. After this, they’re transferred to an “agent” or police officer, who asks them for more information or to transfer money.

Who’s really behind this?

These are mostly cyber-criminal groups from different parts of the world who work together to scam people and steal their money. 🙅‍♂️ Sometimes they are from Africa or Eastern Europe and their English and Dutch is niet zo goed. But there are also plenty of Dutch cybercriminals who speak Dutch well and appear pretty trustworthy.

How does the scam work?

There are a couple of ways that this scam works. If you’re called and you cooperate with the criminals, they may ask you to transfer money to buy off a fraud investigation.

It’s also common that the criminals will ask you to install a program on your computer so that they can help you with “remote assistance”. Don’t be fooled! They’re actually using this to spy on your computer, loot your bank account, and steal passwords and credit card information.

If they are able to access this kind of sensitive private data it’s often used for identity fraud.

What should you do if you get one of these calls?

The answer to this question is pretty simple: hang up. 🙂

Tip: in general, any legitimate organisation such as a bank or the police will never ask you for payment details or to install software on your phone or computer.

What are your thoughts on this new form of phishing? Have you received any of these strange calls? Tell us in the comments below!

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Nee, echt?! One of the wettest natural areas in the Netherlands is drying up

Christine Stein Hededam 🇩🇰
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0
Nee, echt?! One of the wettest natural areas in the Netherlands is drying up

Nature lovers may already be familiar with the Dutch nature reserve called the Veluwe. The 91,200-hectare area is a popular recreational area that offers visitors scenes of wonderful woodland, heath, lakes, and the largest sand drifts in Europe.

In addition, it is also one of the wettest areas in the Netherlands. In the Veluwe, an average of 10% more precipitation than the rest of the country helps sustain its fauna and flora. 🦌 🌲

However, the Veluwe is becoming drier and drier every year, reports the NOS.

What’s happening?

That the Veluwe is drying up is largely due to largely three factors. The forest complex, industry, and polders.

🌲 Nature is changing

It’s hard to believe it when looking at its rich nature today but, back in the Middle Ages, the Veluwe was barren for hundreds of years.

According to Maarten Veldhuis from the Vallei en Veluwe Water Board, the heather and sand and beautiful forests that made up the Veluwe back allowed much less water to evaporate than the large forest complex does now. In fact, three times as much water evaporates today.

🏭 Water is used for industry

In contrast to the Middle Ages, Veldhuis adds that the water that evaporates today “is no longer supplemented by the groundwater. The freshwater supply in the Veluwe is also being used for drinking water and industry.”

💧 Polders extract water

Finally, some of the water in the Veluwe is being extracted by polders in the Zuiderzee and Flevoland to promote agriculture and habitation.

What can be done?

Despite the Veluwe receiving about 100 millimetres more precipitation than the rest of the Netherlands every year, the NOS weather forecaster says it’s a “huge battle to prevent the area drying out.”

If the Veluwe is to maintain its water balance, the natural sponge function of the area must be restored.

Currently, there are efforts to retain water from a local stream in Veluwe and prevent it from flowing into the IJsselmeer.

READ MORE | The 8 greatest forests in the Netherlands for a nature escape

The NOS weather forecaster adds that the dry areas in the Veluwe will become drier in the future but that the wet areas also will become wetter. He says that “in winter, precipitation in the Veluwe area will continue to increase, into the coming century. In a sense, there is still hope for Veluwe.” 🙌

Have you visited the Veluwe? Can you imagine it drying up? Tell us in the comments below!

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Red-orange-red: the Netherlands’ warning level due to go up on the European coronavirus map

Jen Lorimer 🇿🇼
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2

Just last week, the Netherlands was downgraded from red to orange on the European coronavirus map. However, in the past week, there’s been a significant increase in infections. You know what that means right? We’re going red again. 🚩

Throughout September, and pretty much for as long as we can remember actually, the whole of the Netherlands has been red. Last week, however, the Netherlands turned orange — we all love orange, don’t we? 🍊 It was even predicted that certain provinces could turn green — the lowest warning colour.

If that all felt a little too good to be true, that’s probably because it was. This week the RIVM’s official coronavirus figures showed a huge increase from last week, meaning that no provinces will be going green — wat jammer. In fact, if more than 4% of the tests taken this week are positive, the Netherlands will be going right back to red again, RTL Nieuws reports.

A coronavirus fire in Limburg

The biggest coronavirus hotspot is currently in Limburg. In the past two calendar weeks, approximately 2,250 residents of the province have tested positive. 😳 Don’t get us wrong, being positive is great, just not in this way… That equates to 201 cases in every 100,000 people.

Too much studentenleven in Utrecht

Meanwhile, the province of Utrecht recorded 2,635 positive tests. That means that in the past two weeks, 199,7 out of every 100,000 Utrechters has had the ronas. Basically, Utrecht is sitting just below the line between orange and red. If an additional four cases had been recorded, Utrecht would also have turned red. ⛔️

Which province is rising the fastest?

Currently, Overijssel’s case numbers are rising the fastest. More than 1,950 people have tested positive there in the past two weeks. That’s almost 38% more than what the map said when it was changed last week. In Gelderland, the number of positive tests has also increased by 35%, and In Drenthe by 30%.

What are your thoughts on the Netherlands going red again? Tell us in the comments below!

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Dutch rents are rising once again — and internationals are to blame

Farah Al Mazouni 🇸🇾 🇺🇸
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0
Dutch rents are rising once again — and internationals are to blame

For the first time since 2020, prices for rental housing in the free sector rose in July, August, and September in a peak that has been attributed to — drumroll please — expats. 😬

In the Netherlands, average rents in the free sector soared for years in a row, but that changed once the coronavirus pandemic hit and restrictions limited international travel. Not that the general Dutch housing situation is ideal anyway. 😒

But now that the coronavirus measures are more relaxed, the rent in the free sector has risen by 2.5% compared to a year earlier, the NOS reports.

“Rental homes that would normally be taken remained vacant and were reduced in price to allow them to be rented out,” explains the director of rental company Pararius, Jasper De Groot. Well, talk about an add-on to an existing housing crisis.

City dependent

The rise also varies depending on the city. Amsterdam, for example, saw rental homes become 1.6% more expensive compared to last year. Coming as no surprise, this marks the Dutch capital as the most pricey city when it comes to rent in the Netherlands, NU.nl reports.

Meanwhile, Eindhoven and Utrecht saw rents rise by between 5.2% to 8.1% — whereas Drenthe’s and Zeeland’s rents fell in the free sector. 📉

This rise in rent is expected to continue if the supply of rental housing in the private sector doesn’t change, according to De Groot. In his opinion, investors should not be hindered from building houses and regulating the free sector.

What do you think of the latest rise in rents? Tell us in the comments below.

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