Only for employees
Reorganization at Centraal Beheer
Is your role at Centraal Beheer changing because of the merger within Achmea, or is there a departure proposal or settlement agreement?
Centraal Beheer is a well-known Dutch insurer and has been part of Achmea for years. Achmea is bringing the distribution of its brands together into one organization, and that also affects the people who work under the Centraal Beheer brand. This page explains your position under Dutch employment law, which applies to everyone working in the Netherlands, including highly skilled migrants and internationals. One thing is important to know: you work at Centraal Beheer, but your rights derive from your employment contract within the Achmea group. Before you sign a proposal, it is wise to understand your position and whether the offer does justice to your situation.
Does this apply to you?
- Your role in distribution, marketing or customer contact is changing or ending
- The brand distribution is being merged into one organization
- You have been declared redundant
- You are offered a position at another Achmea brand
- There is a departure proposal or settlement agreement
Why employees come to ReorgLegal
ReorgLegal specializes in reorganizations and works exclusively for employees, never for employers. We assess your proposal and stand beside you.
Do not wait too long. Reorganizations often come with short response deadlines. Have a proposal assessed before you agree.
Centraal Beheer as part of Achmea
Centraal Beheer is a brand, not a separate employer. That distinction determines who you derive your rights from if your role changes.
The brand you work under and the employer on your contract
You work under the name Centraal Beheer, but your employment contract is usually with a company within the Achmea group and not with Centraal Beheer as a separate business. Your terms of employment therefore follow Achmea's collective agreement, and your rights in a reorganization derive from that employment contract, the collective agreement, any social plan and the law. To assess your position, it is important to know exactly which entity your contract is with.
The reorganization is a group-level decision
The merger of the distribution is a decision at the level of the Achmea group, which also includes brands such as Interpolis and Zilveren Kruis alongside Centraal Beheer. The group-wide scale and timeline are described on our page about the reorganization at Achmea. On this page we look at what that concretely means for you as an employee of Centraal Beheer.
Developments around a reorganization can change. This page was last updated in July 2026; the information shown applies as far as known at that time.
In brief
- Centraal Beheer is a brand within the Achmea group, based in Apeldoorn
- Your contract is usually with an Achmea company, not with the brand
- Achmea's collective agreement and any social plan help determine your rights
- Merging the brand distribution is a group decision
- How many Centraal Beheer roles are affected exactly has not been separately announced
- Have your situation assessed before you sign
What the merger means for you
Achmea is bundling the distribution of its brands to reduce overlap between teams and to digitalize further. It is precisely the roles around customer, brand and distribution that are therefore under scrutiny.
Overlapping roles across the brands
Where Centraal Beheer, Interpolis and Zilveren Kruis each still have their own distribution and marketing organization, one shared organization is being created. Roles that are similar across the different brands, such as in product development, communication, marketing and customer contact, may coincide. That makes the question of whether your role returns in the new set-up the most urgent one for you.
Digitalization of a direct insurer
Centraal Beheer serves customers largely directly and online. Further automation and the use of artificial intelligence therefore affect precisely the commercial and customer-facing roles that characterize the brand. If your role changes in content as a result, it is good to know whether that fits within your existing employment contract or whether more is at play.
Will your role return in the new organization? Have your situation assessed before you sign anything.
What to watch for
- Whether your role returns in the merged organization
- Whether your role changes in content within your contract
- Whether the definition of interchangeable positions is correct
- Whether a position offered at another brand is genuinely suitable
- The terms of a departure proposal
How a merger unfolds
If your role disappears or changes because of the merger, the process has a number of fixed moments at which something can be checked.
The selection across the brands
Achmea first determines which roles disappear in the new distribution organization and which roles are interchangeable. Because the organization bundles several brands, it matters greatly across which units that interchangeability and the reflection are calculated; that depends on how the organization is set up and on the application of the Dismissal Regulation. Who becomes redundant within a group of interchangeable positions is not a free choice: in principle the reflection principle determines the order, subject to the statutory exceptions.
If it affects many people at once
Because the merger affects several brands at the same time, the rules on collective redundancy may come into play. These only require notification to UWV and consultation with the trade unions once the statutory conditions and threshold are met, including a certain number of intended dismissals within a working area and a period.
Redeployment, and only then a departure
Being made redundant is an interim step and not yet a dismissal. Before a departure comes into view, your employer must investigate whether there is a suitable position for you, if necessary after retraining and within a reasonable period. If none is available, a proposal for a settlement agreement usually follows, or the employer files a dismissal request with UWV.
What you can steer on yourself
- Request your employment contract, the collective agreement and the social plan in writing
- If made redundant, have it recalculated across which units the reflection was applied
- Assess a position at another brand on level, content and travel distance
- Do not sign any scheme without having it independently reviewed first
What does this mean for you?
As far as your role is eliminated, the merger follows the statutory rules for dismissal in a reorganization, supplemented by Achmea's collective agreement and any social plan. On each of these points you have rights.
Objective selection
On the question of who becomes redundant, your employer is bound by fixed rules. Within interchangeable positions, the reflection principle in principle determines the order, subject to the statutory exceptions. If the role classification or the calculation across the brands is wrong, your position may be stronger than it first appears.
Redeployment and its scope
Depending on how the company or group is set up, a suitable position may also come into view at another unit or brand within the Achmea group. Whether that is the case in your situation must be assessed per reorganization. Where that scope exists, it can increase your chances of keeping work. If a required redeployment investigation is skipped, a dismissal often does not hold up.
Your compensation
If your employment ends on your employer's initiative, you are in principle entitled to the statutory transition payment, unless a statutory exception applies. If the social plan provides an additional or different payment, that is generally on top of it. Check, or have it checked, whether the offer matches your years of service and your salary.
The settlement agreement
A departure is almost always recorded in a settlement agreement. It sets out your end date, the compensation and the final discharge, and the wording partly determines whether your unemployment benefit is preserved. Have the document checked before you sign.
Collective agreement and social plan apply across Achmea
Because you fall under the Achmea group, it is not the Centraal Beheer brand arrangements but Achmea's collective agreement and social plan that are your main anchor.
Which scheme applies to you
Your terms of employment follow Achmea's collective agreement, and in a reorganization a social plan also matters. Such a plan usually sets out how redundancy is handled, with arrangements on redeployment, job-to-job support and a payment. The exact content and duration of the plan that applies to your situation may vary over time; request it in writing and have it explained what it concretely means for you. The main points and the state of play around the social plan are described on our page about the reorganization at Achmea.
If you work as an international
If you work on a highly skilled migrant permit, a departure also affects your residence rights. Separate information is available on dismissal as an international.
Not sure which scheme applies to you? Have your situation assessed before you agree.
What to watch for
- Which Achmea entity your employment contract is with
- Which version of the social plan applies to you
- The scope of redeployment within the group
- The amount and the calculation of your compensation
- The end date and the final discharge in the agreement
What you can do now
If the merger also affects your role at Centraal Beheer, first map out your own position before you agree to anything. The sooner you know where you stand, the more choices you still have.
- Request your employment contract, the collective agreement, the social plan and the proposal in writing
- Have it checked whether the reflection and the selection are correctly applied
- Check how far the redeployment investigation reaches and whether other units or brands were considered
- Have the compensation recalculated against your years of service and salary
- Do not sign a settlement agreement before it has been reviewed
Is there a departure proposal or a settlement agreement? Have us review it before you decide.
When should you involve us?
- You have received a departure proposal or settlement agreement
- Your role disappears or is absorbed into the new distribution organization
- You are offered a position at another Achmea brand
- You doubt whether the compensation and the redeployment are correct
- Your response deadline is running and you want clarity fast
Frequently asked questions
These are questions that employees of Centraal Beheer put to us in practice.
Do you have a departure proposal or settlement agreement in hand? Have us review it.
I work at Centraal Beheer. Does the reorganization at Achmea apply to me too?
Yes, it can. The merger of the distribution is a decision at the level of the Achmea group, and Centraal Beheer is one of the brands that fall under it. Whether and how your own role is affected depends on the new organization and on the selection. Have your situation assessed as soon as you know more.
My contract is with Achmea, not with Centraal Beheer. What does that mean?
That is normal. Centraal Beheer is a brand, while your employment contract is usually with a company within the Achmea group. Your rights in a reorganization derive from that contract, Achmea's collective agreement, any social plan and the law, not from the brand you work under.
Can I be redeployed at another brand, such as Interpolis or Zilveren Kruis?
That depends on the situation. Depending on how the company or group is set up, a suitable position may also come into view at another unit or brand within the Achmea group. Whether that is so in your case must be assessed per reorganization, based on Article 7:669 of the Dutch Civil Code and the Dismissal Regulation. Have it checked how far the redeployment obligation reaches in your situation.
Am I entitled to compensation?
If your employment ends on your employer's initiative, you are in principle entitled to the statutory transition payment, unless a statutory exception applies. If the social plan provides an additional or different payment, that is generally on top of it. What you ultimately receive depends on that scheme, your years of service and your salary.
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