Refusal of subsidy application

Questioner

We are a cultural foundation in Nijmegen. On June 30, we sent a subsidy application by email to the XYZ in Gelderland. The application was sent and we never received an error message, but also no confirmation of receipt. On September 6th I called XYZ about the status of our application. They told me it was not in their files. I sent them screenshots of the proof of sending. Now we have received a letter with their decision, that the application has been rejected, because it was received by them on September 6, so after the deadline of July 1, and is therefore formally rejected. Furthermore, the application meets all the formal criteria. Can we make an objection? We sent it. We can prove that. They did not receive it and they indicate that they also have nothing to find on servers. Can we put XYZ in default? How do you see this issue?

Lawyer

This is a complex issue in which the legal concept of 'burden of proof' plays an important role. According to the General Administrative Law Act (AWB), if there is no confirmation of receipt from the administrative body, the risk lies with the sender. Proving that your email actually arrived at XYZ can be complex. You have screenshots of the actual sending of the request, but this does not rule out that the email unintentionally ended up in the spam box, for example, or did not arrive for some other reason. The relevance of this burden of proof can differ per situation and per judge. Nevertheless, you can certainly file an appeal against XYZ’s decision. While there are no guarantees of success, this appeal will allow you to present your views and evidence. You can initiate an appeal yourself, but you may also want to seek advice from a lawyer or attorney to ensure that you address all relevant facts and legal arguments. Please note that you must file this objection within the statutory period of six weeks after the date of the letter. It is therefore important to act as soon as possible. At first glance, defaulting XYZ seems less likely, as there was probably no obligation on their part to send an acknowledgement of receipt. This is something you should definitely discuss with a legal advisor if you want to go down this route. In the future, it may be advisable to send grant applications by registered mail or to explicitly request a receipt for such an important document. This will prevent such situations from arising.' ---------------- Stichting Rechtswinkel.nl is a national organization with students and volunteers. The above advice is based on limited information and may be incomplete or even incorrect for your situation. Always consult a lawyer or attorney for your further steps. Read disclaimer: https://rechtswinkel.nl/disclaimer