Welcome Energy owes 50 million euros: 70,000 unlucky customers, excluding tax authorities | the interior

More than four months after the collapse of Welkom Energie, coordinator Sjakko van Raaijen from Schop & Okkerse Advocaten is increasingly able to put the financial situation in perspective. And that’s a pity: Welcome Energy owes its creditors tens of millions of euros, according to its second financial report. There are hardly any assets, energy supplier to entrepreneur Gap Packer has outsourced almost all services.

With approximately 13 million euros, the Tax and Customs Administration is the largest single creditor. This amount is much higher than previously thought. Only 3.8 million euros were mentioned in the first bankruptcy report. The trustee says he remains hopeful of a large tax refund that “will benefit creditors.” Welkom Energie’s accountant has now filed all returns with the tax authorities.

However, there is much more debt. For example, Welkom Energie’s Rabobank bank account has a negative balance of €9.5 million. At least 70,000 of the 90,000 previous clients also have funds to pay: 20 million euros in total, approximately 285 euros per customer. Fifteen other parties claim 6 million euros.

UWV will also receive an amount to be determined. The agency settled the dismissal of the 10 employees who were on the payroll at Welkom Energie.

The bankrupt Welcome Energy already has a recognized debt of €48.9 million on its books. In contrast, there are only 2.3 million euros in assets. Eneco paid more than 2 million euros to acquire 90,000 customers of Welkom Energie.

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In general, only Tax and Customs Administration appears to be able to collect (part of) its assessment. The Civil Code defines tax authorities as a “preferred creditor,” giving priority over other creditors.

UWV is also in such a favorable position. Banks are not preferred, but as lenders they can offer all kinds of securities. It was not clear from the bankruptcy report whether Rabobank had done so.

There are 70,000 regular customers at the back of the queue in each scenario. They are “competitor debtors” in legal parlance. The chance of some of their money returning seems very slim.

The amount in the estate can grow significantly. Of the 20,000 clients, coordinator Sjakko van Raaijen still owes €5 million, it was announced on Thursday. That’s approximately 250 euros per customer.

Thousands of these customers used a ploy to recoup their excess energy costs. By having their Incasso Notified Incasso Notified Incasso Notified Incasso Notified Incasso Notified Incasso Notified Incasso Notification in their private bank, their monthly energy costs can be booked back up to 13 months. For example, these cheated former customers got their money back straight away and they didn’t have to sit in the back of the creditors line.

However, in many cases, a lot has been reversed: sometimes because the bank automatically refunded all installments, but also because many customers withdrew their welcome bonus of 200 euros. Some also made up for the exorbitant prices they lost with their new supplier.

The bankruptcy trustee objects to this and discusses it in detail in the second bankruptcy report. “Although it is understandable from the victims’ point of view, I cannot accept it,” he said on the site earlier this week. He hired a collection agency Collect4U to raise €5 million.

Exhibition curator Van Raaijen also claims the right to a large batch of gas, which Welkom Energie purchased from gas trading company GasTerra before bankruptcy. This amount is now worth millions of euros due to the massive rise in gas prices. However, state-owned GasTerra revealed a property dispute M Previously.

The coordinator hired a lawyer, the property now cost approximately 7,400 euros. He will decide in the near future whether a lawsuit will follow – something that Van Rijn has not categorically ruled out before. In his report, van Rijn wrote: “There are still a number of elements that remain around the questions on which (perhaps) more expert advice should be sought.”

In the more positive case, it will take years before the gas batch is liquefied. Even so, Tax and Customs Administration appears to be the third smiling. Instead of the state-owned GasTerra, the money ends up in the Ministry of Finance via a different path. The state always benefits.

Not much income is expected for the coordinator. The bankrupt Welkom Energie had no assets: there were no real estate of its own, such as commercial buildings. The company’s inventory was “very modest” with a few desks, office chairs, IT equipment, and conference tables and chairs. “Partially provided by the owner and not owned by Welkom Energie.”

However, approximately 1,700 consumption monitors were found at Welkom Energie, with which customers could see how much energy they were using. It was auctioned for more than 30 thousand euros.

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