Escaping a new reality

In 2020, two-year-old Awaab Ishak died in England after prolonged exposure to mold in his parents' rental home. The housing authority knew there were mold problems in the home. Yet it placed the blame on the family: they would not ventilate enough and shower and cook too much. After Awaab died, it turned out that the mold spores from the home were in his airways. His immune system responded with chronic inflammation, creating granulomas in his airways (tiny inflammatory nodules that form when the immune system cannot clear a harmful substance). These continued to swell until eventually he could no longer breathe. Awaad died of acute respiratory distress, suffocation and eventually cardiac arrest. The case led to Awaab's Law in England. That law requires landlords of social housing to fix moisture and mold problems within strict deadlines. If they cannot, the landlord must provide replacement housing. Awaab's death shows what can happen when mold in homes is not taken seriously. Pediatricians in the Netherlands also report regularly seeing children growing up in damp and moldy homes with chronic cough symptoms, respiratory infections and asthma. These health problems often lead to school absenteeism and negatively affect development and educational opportunities. No one wants to live with their children in a moldy home. But what if there are no alternatives? If there's only one bedroom, moving is financially unfeasible and the housing authority won't step in? This is common and a major problem. Nieuwsuur speaks of a national mold problem that occurs in about 29% of Dutch housing association properties. A tenant is not empty-handed. A housing corporation can be held liable through civil law: when reports and complaints about mold have been structurally ignored; there is a structural defect in the home (such as a leak or poor ventilation); the landlord has taken no or insufficient action and the problems persist; tenants have done their best to limit moisture; there is health damage. At Beer advocaten, we are committed to helping residents who are struggling with severe mold problems, developing health issues and not being heard by their landlord. Are you concerned about mold in your home? Or about the health of you or your children? If so, contact us for advice and support.

Your peers are buying a first home, getting married, or acquiring more space for the children coming up. Meanwhile, you are standing still. Not because you want to, but because a traffic accident or medical error has turned your life upside down. We regularly hear that stagnant feeling from our clients. And it affects us. Because behind the personal injury file is always an ordinary life - with wishes, plans and dreams that also simply continue. Buying your own home is often one of them. How benefits can get in the way of your mortgage Anyone who becomes totally disabled due to an accident usually ends up on IVA benefits. IVA stands for Inkomensvoorziening Volledig Arbeidsongeschiktten: a benefit of 75% of your last salary, up to a legal maximum. This directly affects what you can borrow. Banks base the maximum mortgage on your income. Someone who could get a €400,000 mortgage with a good salary before the accident has significantly less borrowing room with IVA benefits. In today's housing market, a difference of, say, a ton is easily the difference between a suitable home and one that just isn't going to be it. Added to this are two other consequences that don't always get the attention they deserve in personal injury litigation. Because of the accident or medical error, a person has often been unable to save for years. Own money to supplement the mortgage is simply not there. And anyone who would have had a career without the accident would be earning more now than in the year of the accident. That wage growth does not count in an income test. These are collateral consequences of the accident that are not noticeable at first glance, but have great practical impact in the long run. What we have been able to arrange for our clients Personal injury law is at its core about one principle: restoration to the situation before the accident. Not only financially on paper, but also in everyday life. If someone had already bought a home without the accident, or would reasonably have done so in the next few years, that loss is part of the total damages. It is part of it. In several cases, we have found liable parties willing to pay out a substantial advance so that our client was still able to buy a home. Such an advance payment, in legal parlance called an advance payment “under general title,” is an interim payment on the total damages to be determined. It allows someone to act in advance, without the final settlement having to be completed. The result: a client who was able to return to a stage of life that their peers had long since reached. Small in legal terms. Big in real life terms. Two concerns not to be missed Using a down payment to purchase a home involves two practical risks that we always clearly explain to our clients. Money tied up in bricks is no longer free money. An advance on future expenses, such as for household help or medical care, is no longer

Fatbikes, with those typical wide tires, are impossible to imagine the streets without. For some, it is a status-enhancing means of transport, or simply a relaxed, sturdy bike. For others it is a specter on the road: a menacing and fast bike where an accident seems to be in a small corner. Accidents involving especially young people on fatbikes are often in the news. Does that sense of danger match the reality? Is a fatbike actually a bicycle or a motor vehicle? And what's the legal situation when things go wrong? In this blog, I write more about the position of the victim. That can be either the driver of the fatbike, another hit-and-run road user, or next of kin of a killed victim. Research shows ... First, a few facts about this wide-banded vehicle. On behalf of the Ministry I&W, research was conducted by Mobycon in 2025. It shows that: Fatbikes are popular among young people because a helmet and driver's license are not required. Fatbikes are cheap and often a status symbol. There are more and more of them in traffic. Information sourced from hospital emergency departments (ERs) shows that fatbike accident injuries are rising sharply since 2023. Young people on fatbikes are more likely to exhibit risky behavior than adults, increasing the likelihood of accidents. More than half of fatbike users ride faster than the allowed 25 km/h. That 15% appears to be riding a souped-up bike. Brain injuries often occur in fatbike accident victims. Accident with a fatbike, who is liable? Riding a fatbike is allowed at any age and without a helmet, because by law it is equivalent to an electric bike. By default, a fatbike has no more power than 250 watts and pedal assistance up to 25 km/hour. So it is not a motor vehicle, as a speed pedelec is. As the driver of a fatbike, taking out insurance is not mandatory (but it is desirable!). This does not mean that the driver of a fatbike cannot be liable or should not have to pay compensation in a traffic accident. Suppose Dax rides a fatbike through a red light and hits a pedestrian who is not at fault in traffic. Then Dax is liable for the damages suffered by this pedestrian. The insurance company may reimburse damages, but Dax will have to pay for this himself without insurance (or at a young age, his parents will vouch for this). If the pedestrian or cyclist (also) made a traffic error himself, Dax may still be liable and may have to pay some of the damages. Suppose Dax is the one who suffers brain damage because he is hit on his fatbike by a motor vehicle such as a car. The car does have compulsory WAM insurance and is also liable. If there is no force majeure, the motorized person will have to compensate at least 50% of the damage to Dax. If Dax is younger than 14, it is even 100%. Thus, damages must also be compensated (in part) if Dax himself made a traffic error, because Dax