95% of new potential beneficiaries have not requested it

A new case of non-recourse to rights. Generalized in 2018, the energy check is a system aimed at helping the most modest households to pay their energy bills or to finance certain energy renovation work. Until 2023, it was paid automatically. But since this year, new beneficiaries had to claim it on a dedicated platform. However, according to information from RMC, only 5% of them requested it.

The failure of the online counter

In detail, the end of the automatic nature of sending the energy check is linked to the elimination of the housing tax in 2023. Without the data received in connection with this tax, Bercy found itself unable to determine the households entitled to this check. This unprecedented situation pushed the administration to choose in 2024 to automatically send the check to the same households as in 2023, i.e. to a total of 5.5 million low-income households.

Although a portion of these former households should no longer be eligible for the check, it is estimated that one million households became eligible for the system this year. For them, it was planned to go through an online platform to request this check. However, while this virtual counter opened on July 4 and must close on December 31, only a little more than 53,000 households have taken the process, hence this recourse rate of only 5%.

Change in eligibility criteria

Faced with this observation, several family and consumer associations have mobilized. They ask in particular to extend the lifespan of the online platform and above all to make this assistance automatic again, which ensures its good rate of use. It is also estimated in France that the rate of non-take-up of social benefits is 30% on average. A phenomenon linked as much to a lack of information as to the difficulties in carrying out the process, in particular when it is necessary to go digital.

Aware of these problems, the government has stated that it wants to act. “We are examining all possible means to communicate more effectively and make the counter better known to its potential beneficiaries,” expressed the office of Olga Givernet, the Minister Delegate in charge of Energy. However, if this entourage mentioned work to return to automatic sending of the check in 2025, the 2025 budget provides for maintaining the use of an online platform for new beneficiaries, with a change in the eligibility criteria.