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No extra heating allowance for pensioners despite explosion in energy prices: 'Considering whether I can stay resident' | Politics | The DR Government is criticized for having oversold help to those who are in need of high heating bills. By Charlotte Viale has turned off the heat to the radiators on the natural gas boiler in her terraced house in Korsør. Now the lighthouse only heats the water in the house. She has to save on gas. The reason is the rising gas prices, which to such an extent is pushing the 60-year-old. In less than a year, her heating bill has doubled from about 740 kroner a month to more than 1,400 kroner. And that is something that can be felt at.- I can not pay these heating bills. Mine is already very crowded, so I simply do not have the money, she says. Therefore, she is going right now and considering whether she can afford to stay. - Prices continue to rise, so I have to consider strongly, whether I should give up the housing that is perfect for someone like me, she says.Politicians have otherwise made several agreements to help those pressured by rising gas prices.But it has not helped Charlotte Viale.She lives up to get the heat check of 6,000 kroner, but the money will not be paid out until August or September. And she can not get the heating supplement, which has been mentioned several times as an option to pay the heating bill. The heating supplement is not given to those who have been awarded their pension after 2003. Charlotte Viale received an early retirement pension two years ago. © Scanpix Denmark The government has talked about three different types of heating assistance. pension before 2003. The supplement is given to those who have an annual heating bill of more than DKK 5,500 for single people and DKK 8,250 for cohabitants. The supplement is dependent on other income. It is gradually phased out and disappears completely if you have income of more than DKK 7,475 per month in addition to the national pension. You can have your supplement recalculated if heating prices increase. The supplement is administered by Udbetaling Danmark.VARMECHECK: A majority in the Folketing has decided to give 6,000 in a tax-free amount to those who are hardest hit by price increases. These include homes with gas boilers. About 419,000 households are expected to receive the little money that will be paid out by August or September. According to the plan, the money will be paid out automatically to those who are entitled to it. HEATING POOL: A majority in the Folketing has set aside DKK 200 million, which the municipalities can use to help the financially disadvantaged. At present, there is no overview of whether the money has been spent. The Ministry of Employment will not receive this until October. The municipalities are responsible for the pool. And Charlotte Viale is far from alone. Despite the sharp rise in energy prices, no more has been paid in heating surcharges to pensioners. This is shown by a statement made by Udbetaling Danmark for Nyheder. In March 2022, DKK 24.3 million was paid in heating surcharges. The figure was 25.7 million kroner in March 2021. There has otherwise been a large increase in applications. In the first of 2021, 5,472 applied for heating allowance. That number rose to 11,987 in the first of 2022. Exactly the heating supplement has been central when it comes to heating aid. When an agreement on heating assistance was made in February, the agreement stated: "In addition, pensioners with limited supplementary income and heating expenses above a certain level can receive heating allowance and thus have a significant part of the heating expenses covered." Employment Minister Peter Hummelgaard (S) has on several occasions also highlighted the heating supplement as an option for those who were pressured by energy prices.- There are a number of options, if it is, you are part of some of the groups in society that have the least. For example, as a pensioner, you can either apply for a heating supplement or to have your heating supplement recalculated if it is that the expenses increase and increase, as many are experiencing right now, Hummelgaard said on March 21. Total payment of heating supplement: March 2020: 25.4 million March 2021: 25.7 million. March 2022: 24.3 million Number of persons receiving heating allowance: March 2020: 131,293 March 2021: 137,981 March 2022: 132,500 Average payment: March 2020: 193 kroner. March 2021: 187 kroner. March 2022: 183 kroner. Number of applications for heating allowance: 1. quarter 2021: 5.4721. quarter 2022: 11,978Source: Udbetaling DanmarkThe heating supplement is administered by Udbetaling Danmark. From here it sounds like there are three explanations for the fact that the doubling of applications has not resulted in more being paid out. Firstly, there is the case processing time. It takes some time before an application for heating allowance is converted into a payment. So the number may rise later in the year. But many also get no to the application, it sounds. apply because they are not aware that they cannot receive the supplement if their early retirement pension has been granted after 2003. And many old-age pensioners cannot receive the entire supplement if they have others such as a labor market pension next to theirs. a few weeks later it became clear that the heat check can only be paid after the summer holidays. The Liberal Party's climate spokesperson, Marie Bjerre, criticizes that too little is happening. Because it is a problem for many people. - We believe that doing far too little to help in this situation with galloping high energy prices. There are Danes who can not pay their bills.- have made a really bad scheme with the heat check, which does not help enough Danes at all. And then they have referred to the fact that you could get help via heating allowance, but now it turns out that no extra money has actually been paid out, so there is no extra help to get for the many Danes who are in need . has to that extent oversold what it is they have made, she says. That Peter Hummelgaard. - We are very busy helping the Danes who are affected by high heat prices. You say you want to help those people . But no more has been paid in heating surcharges. Do you help them then? - At least there are the tools to help them. We would like more people to be aware that you can apply for recalculations of your heating supplement. But it is satisfying for you that you see a large increase in applications, but not an increase in what who gets paid? - It probably reflects that some of those who apply do not live up to .People are standing with these bills that they are having a hard time paying, right now. The heat check comes after the summer holidays. There is a long case processing time for the heating supplement. How does it help the people who are dealing with an acute problem here and now? - We want to ensure that things go as fast as it can realistically. But it is also the case that there are some things that take time. It may be to process the individual information that is the basis for a recalculation of your heating supplement. We do not want it to take as much as one day more than it should. At a press conference, you yourself referred to this heating supplement as something people could apply for if they were pressured by rising energy prices. Now it turns out that so far no more has been paid out. Have you oversold this opportunity for help? - No, I do not think so. We are trying to do what we can to draw attention to the possibilities they already have today, where they have a legal claim for heating allowance, if they otherwise meet the conditions, says Peter Hummelgaard. It is not only with the main political opponent in the Liberal Party, that the stagnant heating supplement meets with criticism.- This is very serious, says the Unity List's energy spokesman, Søren Egge Rasmussen. raising the green check would have been the simple solution. It is a very unbureaucratic way, which has the justice that it is everyone with low who gets help, says Søren Egge Rasmussen. While the politicians discuss how the heat help can be screwed together, Charlotte Viale sits in Korsør and can see how her heating bill just rising and rising. And it frustrates her.- It's not something to be dealt with in 80 committees. It is now that the money is needed, and it is now that action is needed on the part of the politicians, she says. She thinks it is unreasonable that she who is cut off from receiving heating allowances. - It feels as if one is discarded immediately and they say, 'Sorry, you're not good enough anymore. You can go home with your early retirement and otherwise - excuse the expression - rot and cope with what you now get ', says Charlotte Viale.