New Member Seeking Advice on Sozialhilfe and Credit Card Debts

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
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Hello everyone,

I am a new member to this forum and would like to extend my warm greetings to each one of you.

I have been living in Switzerland for over six years now and I must say, it's been quite a journey.

I have managed to navigate most challenges with ease, thanks to the supportive community and the robust Swiss systems in place. However, recently, I have found myself in a rather perplexing situation and I thought I'd reach out to this community for some guidance and support.

About a year ago, I fell ill and was unable to continue with my job. I was then placed on IV taggeld, which was a relief as it helped me cover my expenses. Unfortunately, my health hasn't improved much, and I eventually transitioned into the sozialhilfe system. Here is where my problem starts.

I am having issues with the disbursement of sozialhilfe. It appears that each month, there's a new reason for withholding my payments. The reasons seem to shift and change, but the outcome remains the same - I don't receive the support in time that I need to cover my basic needs, such as food and housing.

This month, they have flagged an issue with the number of credit cards in my name.

I do have several credit cards, but all of them are in a negative balance; I haven't been able to settle these debts due to my ongoing illness and financial instability.

The sozialhilfe office has demanded that I close all these credit card contracts before they resume my payments.

I am in a bit of a pickle here. I understand that they want to prevent me from making any further debt.

But I need the sozialhilfe support to get by. I'm not sure if it's legal for them to withhold my sozialhilfe payments due to having multiple credit card contracts.

I would greatly appreciate any insights, advice, or resources that you could share. Is anyone familiar with the laws regarding this? Have any of you faced similar situations? How did you manage to resolve them?

Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Looking forward to engaging with all of you.

Best, Lisa

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Welcome to the Forum, and sorry to hear you're in this situation.

I don't have legal text to hand, but I can tell you anecdotally that it does seem the authorities can ask you to close your revolving debt. Having revolving debt isn't a right, AFAIK.

A friend of mine was on social help many years ago, and had to prove that debts were paid/not behind/not excessive in order to receive the SH payments.

Can you not close the revolving accounts and get a pre-paid card in a small amount?

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Thank you for your response and suggestions.

I understand your point about closing revolving accounts, however, while the bank cannot close an account that is still in a negative balance, it's possible to cancel the associated credit card, which effectively prevents any further debt from accruing. This is what I'm doing currently.

It's perplexing to me that they withhold funds intermittently, creating a situation where I may not be able to afford basic necessities like rent or food.

I was under the impression that social services were meant to provide stability during hard times, not exacerbate them.

In some other countries, there are contracts in place to ensure that social support payments are secure for a certain duration. If issues arise, repayments can be requested, or payments may be reduced to cover only the essentials like housing, food, and health insurance. I'm trying to understand if I'm misunderstanding the system here, or if this inconsistency and unpredictability is to be expected.

I'm concerned about potential repercussions, like "Eintreibungen", if the social help office continues to operate in this way. It's hard to plan or maintain any sort of stability when I don't know if I'll receive the funds I need.

Another instance that left me puzzled was when my payments were withheld because of my leased car i still had a few months ago.

This car is crucial for me, given my health condition and the need to transport groceries, or drives to therapy and doctors.

However, the office insisted that I return the car, even though I would incur penalties for terminating the lease early, along with repair costs for some damages.

As it stands, I'm unable to bear these costs. The lease still has a few years left, and it would have been feasible for me to cover the repair costs before returning the car at the end of the lease term (without penalty costs), assuming my situation improves by then.

But now i have no car, and thousands in outstanding costs for the penalty and repairs needed before giving it back.

I would be grateful if anyone could clarify whether these experiences are typical of the system, or if there are ways to navigate these situations more effectively, or if I should get legal help for this.

Thank you.

Lisa

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EDIT:
I posted this in response to your first post, before I had read your second.

Hello, welcome to the forum, and yes, I’m also sorry to hear you have to face these difficulties.

What happened with your IV application? Is the Disability Office still processing it? If they rejected you, but your health deteriorated further, you can write to them with the appropriate doctors’ reports, asking them to re-assess your application for a disability pension (IV-Rente). If you were awarded a disability pension, but it it not enough to cover your living costs, you would then become entitled to a different benefit, not from social security (Sozialhilfe) but from the office for top-up benefits (Ergänzungsleistungen). In general, having a disability pension and, if necessary, those top-up benefits, is a much better situation than having to rely on the social security, and so it can be worth pushing for that.

Yes, this can be nerve-wracking and tedious. I have another friend who is subjected to it, too, and her social security advisor keeps withdrawing a benefit, or re-calculating something, or granting a payment only as a special dispensation from month to month that they threaten to stop, once claiming back and deducting a payment they had previously approved (leaving her with dramatically too little for the following month) and most of all delaying payment. It’s horrible. And hard to believe when one hasn’t witnessed it unfolding. My friend is doing her best to comply with all the requirements, but her advisor keeps changing them, and by now she is really weary.

I think the idea behind making social security hellishly unpleasant is, perhaps, unintended and born out of a lack of compassion, or perhaps intended and supposed to effect a kind of negative motivation to get off social benefits and go back to work. In reality, however, that’s easier said than done! The more so if one is simply not well enough to work, and if the application to the Disability Office has been rejected, or is taking ages to process.

Have you written to the credit card companies to inform them that you are on social security and will not be able to make payments? I knew of cases in which the companies then at least stopped the interest (as long as the holder didn’t make any new purchases with those cards) so that the debtor didn’t end up with endlessly spiralling debt. You could ask the advice centre (see below) whether this is still a possibility.
I suggest you contact Sozialhilfeberatung . They are an organisation which advises people who are poor or endangered by poverty, for free. The first contact must be made by phone.
https://sozialhilfeberatung.ch/page/leistungsangebot
There are probably general advisors there, but they also have contact with lawyers who offer their advice, for free, to work out how you can obtain what is legally your right. And they could also tell you whether your not fulfilling the advisor’s requirement that you close your credit-card accounts (which, by the way, sounds like very sensible advice, to me) is a legitimate reason to suspend social security payments to you, or not.

You could also try the advice centre of Caritas . Their advice is free.
https://www.caritas-zuerich.ch/hilfe…SABEgLUhPD_BwE

Kirchliche Sozialberatung is a church organisation offering advice on social matters, for free. You do not need to be a member or a believer to apply there for help.
https://streetchurch.ch/beratung/

In all these cases, if you do not speak enough German, please don’t be discouraged. You could phone and ask for an English-speaker, and they might not be able to help you right away, but may well tell you to phone back on another day, when someone is there you could speak to you in English. Also: let them know of any other languages you may speak, so they can match you to the right advisor.

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Cancelling a card does not remove the credit facility, so you may find that this will not satisfy the agency. You need to write to the banks and inform them of you situation and the fact that you will be unable to meet the debt. The bank won't be happy, but you should receive notification that the credit facility has been removed and that will satisfy the agency.

Typically Swiss people do not have HP agreements and revolving credit and it is possible they don't appreciate your situation, especially if your command of the local language is not very good. So you are going to have to work extra hard to educate them on your situation.

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Are you in contact with the Caritas free debt counselling service ?

They should be able to advice you on the law, and on your options for clearing your credit card debt....

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I'm not surprised you received this instruction. We're in Switzerland, after all, where public transport is revered. The Swiss seem to genuinely believe that no one needs a car, at least not all the time. There's Mobility, which you can rent as needed (although not sure how that works when you have debt problems and no card). Groceries can be delivered (same, not sure how it works without a card).

In terms of drives to therapy and doctors, there's the Rotkreutzfahrdienst, a service offered by volunteers with the Red Cross. The municipality subsidizes part of the cost and you pay a little too. I think I paid 7 Francs for a ride to the physio? I don't remember now, but it was reasonable.

I have to agree with Doropfiz, it seems the rules are harsh, either to discourage use or just because the Swiss like rules. Hopefully you've gained info on a few resources to help out as you navigate this confusing situation. Best of luck to you.

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Hello everyone,

Firstly, I want to say thank you for all the help and advice I've received here. The level of understanding and informed responses from you all has been incredibly heartening during this challenging time.

My application is still being processed. This process, as many of you might know, can extend to over a year. I'm keeping patient, and hoping for the best.

I have reached out to the banks, but unfortunately, they didn't grant an interest stop. My credit card isn't valid anymore, but the payments are still due.

I found them via Google last week and plan to get in touch with them soon. Similarly, I had a consultation with the Schuldenberatung. My finances are well-organized, so they arrived at the same conclusion as I had – given my current circumstances, I need to anticipate eintreibungen.

Thank you, I will definitely get in touch with them.

I do speak German at a B1-B2 level. It's occasionally challenging, but I often find someone who can communicate in English, which makes things a lot easier.

Yes, I am in the process of this right now. I have to see if the Sozialhilfe Offce will be satisfied with that.

I must admit that moving to Switzerland for my last employer, in hindsight, was a misstep due to the minimal pay from him. This situation drove me into debt, the company has since declared bankruptcy, the owner has pocketed all the profits of course...

Yes I have been there a few times. We went over all possibilities and concluded that there is not more to do right now.

Delivery services pose another obstacle, mainly due to my lack of a reliable payment method and the typical minimum order amount of 100 CHF.

The Rotkreuzfahrdienst is another service I've researched, but it seemed to cater primarily to individuals who are completely immobile or need another person's help to move . I might revisit this, but I foresee a lengthy process involving my doctors proving my need for it and the government granting the service.

Again, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the swift, understanding, and comprehensive assistance I've received on this forum. The level of knowledge and willingness to help from everyone here has been genuinely surprising, and I am beyond grateful for it. 🙏