ENERGY CHECK. To fight against the rise in energy prices in 2023, an exceptional energy check will be paid to the most modest households before the end of 2022.
[Updated October 4, 2022 at 8:21 a.m.] What solutions to soaring energy prices? The price of gas will increase by 15% in January 2023, same observation for electricity from next February. In this extremely delicate context, the government intends to help the poorest households. This is why an exceptional energy check will be put in place before the end of 2022 to try to counter this inflationary phenomenon, which has been going on in France for many months now (5.6% in September over one year). This exceptional energy check in the amount of 100 to 200 euros will be awarded subject to income conditions. A single mother paid at minimum wage with two dependent children will pocket 200 euros. For a couple with two dependent children and whose cumulative income reaches 3,000 euros net, the amount of the exceptional check will be 100 euros. Here is the specific arbitration made by the government to determine the amount of the check:
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has indicated that these energy checks will be distributed to the 40% of the poorest households, i.e. 12 million people in France. This maneuver is estimated at 1.8 billion euros for the State according to the calculations of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. The traditional energy check is received by the beneficiaries once a year, at their home. They can also decide to “pre-assign” it to their energy supplier. No action is necessary to receive it. This energy check can also be used for people residing in a social housing agreement, an EHPAD, or even in an establishment or a long-term care unit.
The energy check is awarded each year, depending on your income and the composition of your household. It is sent to you, automatically, on the basis of the information transmitted by the tax services, and provided that you have made your tax return within the deadlines set by the tax authorities. You must also live in accommodation subject to housing tax (even if you are exempt).
At the end of 2022, an exceptional energy check will be paid to 12 million beneficiaries according to the announcement made by Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday September 14 as part of a press briefing on the energy crisis. The conditions have not yet been formally specified, but the beneficiaries should be generally the same as for the usual energy check paid in the spring of 2022. 4 out of 10 households should be eligible according to the government. Income criteria are put in place to specify the conditions for obtaining it.
The payment of the energy check is made by department. The 2022 check was sent automatically between March 30 and April 29, 2022 depending on your department of residence. The “exceptional energy check” announced in September 2022, a sort of extension to deal with rising energy prices, will be paid before the end of the year, the government said.
Regarding the exceptional energy vouchers, the official payment date has not been revealed, but the beneficiaries of this aid of 100 or 200 euros should receive them before the end of 2022. The executive should communicate more precisely on the topic in the coming weeks.
The amount of the energy check depends on the resources and composition of your household. To determine this, the government has established a scale. Here is the scale that applies in 2022.
As you can see, a single person can receive an energy check for a maximum amount of 194 euros in 2022. Note that the energy check can be combined with the Ma Prime Rénov aid, the device that replaces the tax credit for energy transition (CITE).
For the exceptional energy check expected at the end of 2022 as announced on September 14 by the government, the amount may reach 200 euros for a household composed of a single mother receiving the minimum wage and with two dependent children. For a couple with two children and whose income is equal to 3,000 euros net, the exceptional check will be for an amount of 100 euros.
Are you sure you meet the conditions for the energy check, and yet there is no trace in your mail? In this case, contact support, either via the contact form on the dedicated site, or by telephone. Remember to bring your tax notice. “To be able to benefit from the energy check, you must have declared your income to the tax services (even if your income is low or zero)”, we recall in the Frequently Asked Questions. “After having regularized your situation, you will be able to apply for an energy check. On the other hand, if you have still not declared your income for the following year, you will no longer be able to claim the benefit of the energy check”.
To determine your eligibility for the energy check system, you can go to the site dedicated to the energy check. There is no simulator in the strict sense of the term. On the other hand, we invite you to enter your tax number to determine if you are eligible for the device. By entering your tax ID, the site tells you whether or not you are concerned. If this is not the case, the following message is displayed: “If you nevertheless think that your household fulfills the conditions of income and composition to benefit from the energy voucher, or, if you are an approved operator for housing in rental intermediation and you wish to check the eligibility of a sub-leased household for the energy check, you can nevertheless continue with the eligibility test”. You are then invited to complete a questionnaire comprising three questions.
The energy check is reserved for the most modest households. Its allocation depends on the resources of the household and the composition of the household: your reference tax income is taken into account. Please note that it must be less than 10,800 euros per consumption unit (CU). As an indication, a person represents a CU. The second person is counted at 0.5 and each person at 0.3 CU. To find out if you can benefit from the energy voucher, you must therefore divide your reference tax income by the number of consumption units in your household. Very concretely, this means that the reference tax income must not exceed 10,800 euros for a single person.
You don’t have to do anything. The energy voucher is allocated automatically. In practice, it is the tax administration that sends the list of eligible households to the Services and Payment Agency (ASP). The latter is in charge of editing and sending the check by post. Eligible households therefore receive it automatically, without having to fill out any form. There is therefore no point in contacting the services in charge of the energy check if you are not eligible.
Energy check assistance can be reached on 0 805 204 805 (freephone number), Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. “In case of heavy traffic, we recommend that you call in the morning from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., or at the end of the day from 5:00 p.m.”, we warn on the energy check site.
Yes ! EDF is one of the electricity suppliers that accepts the energy check to pay your electricity expenses directly online. “No need to wait for your next bill: you can use your energy check now, it will be credited directly to your customer account”, explains the official website of the energy check. To do this, simply enter the number of your energy voucher.
The energy check can be sent by post or delivered by hand to the energy supplier. In this case, you must attach a copy of a document showing your customer references and write them on the back of the check. But you can also use it directly online, on the chequeenergie.gouv.fr website.
Note that in the case of carrying out work, the check can be used directly to pay the invoice. On the other hand, please note that this work must be carried out by a professional “Recognized guarantor of the environment” (RGE). You will find the list of RGE professionals on the renovation info service website. If you are the beneficiary of the energy check, know that its expiry date is listed. It generally occurs on March 31 of the calendar year following the year of issue.
You are asked to report the loss or theft of your energy voucher. To do this, you have two options:
