The social secretariat of leading ladies Ann and Ellen Müsing is a modern enterprise that attaches great importance to customer friendliness and helpfulness.
The sisters’ ‘no-nonsense’ mentality, combined with their focus on continuous training, makes the service a reliable partner for social documents, pay calculations, or any socio legal advice.
It runs in the family
In the mid-1940s, the National Office for Social Security was set up in Belgium, and from then on, only accredited social secretariats could be assigned with any social security contribution related task. Louis Müsing seized the opportunity and also set up his own social security office from the House for the Middle Classes, a non-profit organisation that actively supported the middle class in all areas. The former House for the Middle Classes in Antwerp city centre was swapped for an easily accessible office in Merksem, with good parking facilities.
Today, NatPat is a modern SME with a rich family history. With the two sisters at the helm, the social secretariat now counts eight experienced and skilled collaborators.
Keep it simple
“The NatPat Service has everything a big office has to offer,” says Ellen Müsing, “but without the bells and whistles.” The social secretariat sets itself apart with a more personal and individualized approach.
When larger offices often only rely only computers, we still enjoy carrying out the work in person
and will assist our clients who might experience difficulties with our webtools with great pleasure. Initial contact always takes place at the office and every single client will still be treated with a traditional Christmas card from us.
Strong together
Despite NatPat’s small size on the market, the service is the reference for many different sectors, that together account for more than 30 joint committees. Hairdressers, dentists, lawyers, building contractors: every SME or self-employed entrepreneur with up to 50 employees can rely on this social secretariat.
If a sector cannot be helped by the NatPat Service, it will be referred to another social secretariat
that is part of Serviam+, a partnership between 12 smaller independently-owned acknowledged social secretariats.
Ellen Müsing sees many advantages in the partnership. “We all use the same software and regularly meet about legal matters. If a file is complicated, we can call on the other secretariat lawyers, with no additional fees for our clients.”
Yin and Yang
However very different, Ann and Ellen form a strong duo. As the managing director, Ellen is the contact person between clients and authorities, while Ann takes on the role of financial manager.
The employees too form a complementary team. At NatPat, there are no fixed file administrators. This means that every employee who answers the phone can help the client. “Sometimes it is good to have someone else look at a file,” says Ellen. “Colleagues sometimes come up with one or the other detail that might otherwise have been looked over. All employees follow all the files and our clients do not have to tell their story five times.”
Every month, all collaborators also follow training and refresher courses on current legal issues, so that everyone is kept abreast.
