HE State prepare one reform conditions necessary to achieve electric social bond (discounts on the bill for vulnerable families) and thermal social bond (a check helps pay for some of these families’ gas, water and heating costs) so that some households that don’t really need this help will stop getting it.
The purpose of the Ministry of Ecological Transition is from now on maximum household income requirements Large families (with three or more children) who have hitherto been considered direct beneficiaries, regardless of their income, are also eligible for social bonds.
It’s a measure now announced by the Executive after the controversy arose after Enrique Ossorio, vice-president of the Community of Madrid, the regional leader of Más Madrid, learned that Mónica García and other regional politicians from Madrid had bought social bonds for electricity. thermal their status as large families.
In any case, the government sent a message of calm to the extended families. Teresa Ribera, Vice President and Minister of Ecological Transition, said – because of the characteristics of such family units and the large number of cohabitants that they can contain. with “much higher” income levels, they will be able to maintain their social ties to electricity and gas more than should be considered a vulnerable or severely vulnerable consumer.
“Lease Margins [requeridos a las familias numerosas] will be higher than existing categories. Ribera emphasized this Friday that a large family needs a much higher disposable income than the annual income of 26,000 to 27,000 euros applied to cohabitation units.
Flexible with renting for extended families
The government’s plans is more flexible and allows higher rents for each child of extended families to access help. Currently, the added income limits for each additional child are the result of adding 0.5 times the public indicator of multi-impact income (IPREM) set at €8,400 per year in 14 payments this year, but for large families, higher income households receive social bonuses and thermal bonuses. this multiplier will be higher to make it easier to continue.
Currently, households of two adults and one minor can be considered vulnerable and receive the electric social bonus with an annual family income of less than €19,320, and in the case of two adults and two minors the limit is set at 23,520. euro. , according to government data.
Allows the application of electrical social bonding discounts electricity bills between 25% and 40% Depending on the degree of vulnerability, but as part of anti-crisis measures, discounts were temporarily increased to 65% and 80% of receipt.. Extended families get 25% off regardless of their income. The electric bonus also gives all beneficiaries access to the thermal social bonus; this means a single payment of between 40 and 375 euros per year, depending on the climate zone in which the beneficiaries live and the degree of vulnerability.
Due to the energy crisis and the economic uncertainty caused by the war, the administration has created an exceptional and temporary new type of social bonus for middle-class homes, giving families with two adults a 40% discount on their electricity bill. and two children can earn up to 27,700 euros per year.
Large families will receive or be excluded from the social bonus “depending on their income and the number of people living together”, but applying an upward correction factor for each child living together, a higher proportion than currently used for cohabitation units”, vice president Confirmed. “The situation is not the same for families with 3-4 children., Couples with children from previous relationships and more people live under the same roof. These situations require a power [eléctrica] and higher consumption than households with fewer people”.
Extensive time without losing the social bonus
The Government, which plans to open a public consultation on the new regulation in the near future, acknowledges that extended families who have so far only had access to assistance by proving their status will have to submit a new application for the electricity social bonus. the level of rent from electricity companies and in some cases also from their autonomous communities to receive the thermal social bonus.
Another reassuring message of the Ministry of Ecological Transformation to extended families is that the new regulation will envisage a long transition period for families to meet all their needs. Documentation procedures required for applying for assistance and for as long as they do not lose the social bonus they are currently receiving.
“Large families enjoying social benefits today have to provide data on family incomes. Documentary accreditation will be necessary, which will take time, and we want to make room for them to run this process,” Ribera explained. “We are not interested in people who benefit out of need, because it is clear that they should not continue to enjoy the electric social bonus or the thermal social bonus. But we are concerned for extended families who are vulnerable and may have difficulty managing these additional documents.” there will be along period of timePresenting all these documents so that large families in need of help “do not stay in the land of no one” until all the proceedings are completed.