Rising energy costs arouse fears among many people that they will no longer be able to pay their heating costs. Recipients of social benefits in particular are afraid of high back payments and high deductions.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – In view of skyrocketing gas prices, the Thuringian Ombudsman Kurt Herzberg is calling for the reimbursement of heating costs for recipients of social benefits to be newly regulated. What is appropriate should not be based on the mere costs, explained Herzberg on Tuesday in Erfurt. Rather, the competent authorities would have to check whether the consumption of those affected was appropriate.
According to Herzberg, numerous recipients of social benefits fear that the extremely high heating costs will not be covered by the social welfare office or the job center. The social service providers would now have to react quickly and transparently. The benefit recipients would have a right to the appropriate heating costs being taken over by the service provider.
The Ombudsman also expects that in the coming months many people will be dependent on social benefits for the first time due to high energy costs. With a view to high additional payments due to the annual heating bill, he made it clear that it is irrelevant whether the additional claim arose in times before the benefit was drawn. “It is only important that the application for support services is made no later than the month in which an additional payment is due.”
According to the Thuringian State Office for Statistics, the price of energy products increased by an average of 34.5 percent in July compared to the same month last year. The strongest increases were in heating oil with a plus of 103.0 percent, district heating (plus 62.9 percent) and gas (plus 53.2 percent).
