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ENERGY

Danish government to investigate mistaken heating cash

Denmark’s Climate, Energy and Critical Supplies minister Dan Jørgensen has ordered an investigation into how many people were mistakenly sent cash targeted at households struggling to pay high energy bills. 

Danish government to investigate mistaken heating cash
Energy minister Dan Jørgensen has confirmed the government will look into incorrect payments of one-off cash assistance for heating bills. File photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

Jørgensen ordered an investigation of the issues following pressure on Monday from the minority government’s allied parties.

“We think it will be good to get a clear idea of it. That’s what I have asked my agency to investigate now,” Jørgensen told broadcaster TV2.

The investigation will take the form of a “critical inspection”, TV2 writes. It is unclear how this will be conducted.

Jørgensen earlier said that the government had no plans to investigate the matter.

The 6,000 kroner cheques were intended to offset skyrocketing energy costs for households heated by gas ahead of winter. But due to inaccuracies in an online database that requires homeowners to self-report information on their home, including gas boilers, many people are believed to have received the cheques in error.

READ MORE: Danish parties urge investigation of heating cash sent to ineligible homes 

The one-off payouts, agreed by parliament in March, were sent earlier this month to over 400,000 households which meet the criteria set to receive the relief.

Households with a collective pre-tax income of under 706,000 kroner were eligible for the one-off cash boosts. Additionally, the household should be primarily heated by individual gas heaters, electronic radiators or be located in a district heating area in which the heating is produced by at least 65 percent gas.

However, concerns were raised that some ineligible households had received the payment. The government used an online database that relies on self-reported information from homeowners (which must also be confirmed by municipalities) to determine who was eligible.

Inaccuracies in the database meant some households that have since switched from gas to another heat source, or have even moved to a different residence altogether, received the cheques in error. 

The legislation approving the cheques explicitly stated that households that received the cheques despite not being eligible wouldn’t be required to return the money.

But some reports have quoted critics, among them some who received the money in error and have tried to return it, concerned over a needless waste of tax kroner. 

The scheme has cost the government 2.4 billion kroner.

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ENERGY

Denmark opens platform to apply for energy bill cash relief

Denmark residents can from 10am on Tuesday apply for last autumn’s 6,000-kroner energy bill relief, if they were not sent it at the time and think they may be eligible.

Denmark opens platform to apply for energy bill cash relief

The application platform, varmecheck.dk, states that applications can be sent from 10am on Tuesday and for the next eight weeks.

The tax-free cash payout or varmecheck of 6,000 kroner was approved by parliament last spring in response to rising energy prices and sent out automatically in August to households which met set criteria.

Some 411,000 households in Denmark received the money, which was intended to help people struggling with additional costs caused by the energy crisis.

The application platform can be used by households which are eligible for the money but did not receive it during the original payment round.

Households with a collective pre-tax income of under 706,000 kroner were eligible for the one-off cash boosts. Additionally, the household should be primarily heated by individual gas heaters (or have experienced similar increases to bills as such homes) or be located in a district heating area in which the heating is produced by at least 65 percent gas.

Errors in registration data may have resulted in households which met the criteria not receiving payments automatically in the original round, the Danish Energy Agency said at the time.

READ ALSO: How to apply for Denmark’s 6,000 kroner energy relief if you were missed by automatic payments

The varmecheck scheme has been extensively discussed in parliament. The previous, single-party Social Democratic government received criticism from opponents after some people were sent the money even though they did not fulfil the criteria, for example because they had replaced their gas boilers but the registration data on their homes was outdated.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that up to 10,600 homes received the original payment in error. The Danish Energy Agency said between 1.6 percent and 2.6 percent of recipients were not actually eligible for the relief.

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