In France, 11.6% of households, or 6.7 million people, are considered to be in fuel poverty, insofar as they devote more than 8% of their budget to the energy expenditure of their housing. To support them, the State has undertaken to reduce their bills thanks to the energy check.
150 euros in the pocket
This system has taken over from the old "basic tariffs" provided for electricity and the "special solidarity tariff" applied to gas. After an experiment which lasted more than a year in four departments, this aid was generalized to the national territory on January 1, 2018. For an average amount of 150 euros and valid for one year, the energy check can reach up to 277 euros depending on your reference tax income and the composition of your household. You can use it to pay your heating bills (electricity, gas, heating oil, wood) or to finance certain energy renovation works in your accommodation. If you reside in approved accommodation, the amount can also be deducted from your heating costs included in your fee.
In practice, you can send this check directly to your supplier or use it online on the dedicated website Chequeenergie.gouv.fr. Nearly 800,000 eligible households have also opted for the pre-allocation of their check this year, which will therefore be automatically transmitted to their energy supplier and deducted from their invoices.
Precarious households targeted
This financial aid is allocated exclusively to the most modest households. Therefore, an income ceiling must be respected. In this case, the reference tax income per consumption unit (UC) of the household must be less than 10,700 euros in 2020. For information, know that one person constitutes 1 UC, that the second represents 0.5 CU and each additional person adds 0.3 CU. A single person without children is therefore entitled to an energy check varying between 48 and 194 euros, depending on their level of resources, against an amount ranging from 76 to 277 euros for a family with two or more children.
You do not have to do anything to obtain this envelope. Indeed, it is the tax administration which is responsible for identifying the eligible persons and for transmitting the information to the Service and Payment Agency, so that it sends the check to the interested parties each spring by post. In 2020, almost 5.5 million households will benefit from this boost.
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