Since its launch three weeks ago, the Temporary Emergency Fund for Energy has received about 27,000 applications, while there are probably many more people who qualify. A spokesperson for the fund confirms this after a message from the AD. 3800 of these applications were rejected.
The fund is intended for people with a low income and a high energy bill. It should prevent them from building up debts due to their energy bills. Hundreds of thousands of households are probably eligible for it.
It is not clear why the number of applications is still lagging behind. However, there have been complaints about the application procedure for some time: it is said to be too complicated. For example, a relatively new mobile phone is required that can run the app that you can use to make the application. A “computer version” will be online early next week.
Open month longer
It has been decided to keep the counter open a month longer than planned, namely until April 30. According to the spokesperson for the fund, this is “to give people the peace and space to use the computer version”.
According to him, there have been 163,000 people in recent weeks who have done the Emergency Fund check to know if they are eligible for support.
It is not clear exactly how many people are eligible for financial aid. According to the spokesperson, the foundation of the fund was based on a calculation by the Central Planning Bureau, which would show that 420,000 to 500,000 households could have payment problems.
At the request of the NOS, research agency ABF Research calculated that about 300,000 households could claim money from the fund. If they all do that, more than 100 million euros would be needed. That is much more than the 49 million in the fund.
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