Ukrainians are allowed to keep cars despite the assistance

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Ukrainians who have fled to Switzerland with their car and receive social assistance benefits here should actually hand in their car. But there is a problem with the implementation of this rule – not a single car has been sold so far, SRF reports.

The injustice that Ukrainian refugees, unlike Swiss welfare recipients, are allowed to keep their cars is likely to continue in the future.

Equal treatment is often difficult

Originally, the cars of the refugees from Ukraine were not included in their assets. So they were allowed to keep the cars despite Social Security benefits. Unequal treatment compared to other benefit recipients – they have to sell their car if they want support from the state or canton.

To eliminate the injustice, the cantons changed the regulations at the end of 2022. Since the beginning of this year, Ukrainian women have had to sell their vehicles if they want to continue receiving social assistance. Since then, the social government of the canton has been investigating possible forced sales.

The SRF questioned seven cantons about this – the answers were comparable everywhere. All cantons have foreclosure investigations, but the practical implementation of foreclosures is often difficult.

Car owners are pulling out all the stops

Because in order to force a car owner to sell his car, the car must really belong to the person. And that is often not the case at all. Because many cars belong to other people who, for example, still reside in Ukraine. Papers are repeatedly submitted to the authorities to certify this.

Another problem is lease cars. These are often not fully paid off and therefore legally still belong to the dealer. A forced sale is therefore not possible here either.

In addition, many Ukrainians’ cars are not worth enough. A forced sale therefore makes no sense or is even legally prohibited because the value of the car is lower than the capital allowance of the refugee families. (sq)

Source:Blick