Reviving your WW benefit

This information is provided by: Employee Insurance Agency, UWV

Employee Insurance Agency, UWVNederlandse versie

Do you want to stop working as a self-employed professional? And did you have an unemployment benefit (WW) when you started your business? If you meet the conditions, you can get your old unemployment benefit back. This is called revival WW benefit (herleving WW-uitkering).

How long are you entitled to your old WW benefit?

The period during which you may receive WW benefit again or in full depends on how long you were entitled to WW benefit:

- Were you entitled to WW for 18 months or less? Then you can reapply for WW benefit within 18 months from the date you started being self-employed.

- Were you entitled to WW for longer than 18 months? Then you can reapply for your benefit from the date you started as self-employed within the number of months you were entitled to WW.

See examples (in Dutch) on the website of the Employee Insurance Agency (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen, UWV)

Reapplying for WW benefit

You can revive your old WW benefit by reapplying for WW benefit.

Please note that you will then again be obliged to apply for salaried jobs and report your application activities to UWV.