The health service watchdog NZa has fined five health insurance companies which fall under the Achmea umbrella for sloppy administration and being unable to justify €500m in spending.

In total, the insurers have been fined €3.6m after failing to improve their administration systems following a formal warning. The problems date back to 2011 and focus on the way costs per type of patient are registered.

‘It is sloppy and stupid that we did not solve these problems more quickly,’ Achmea spokeswoman Christa Rompa told news agency ANP. ‘These mistakes are due to human carelessness.’

Both Achmea and the NZa say the errors were not deliberate and have not benefited the company financially. The company has since further automated its administration systems to avoid further errors.