Hartz IV recipient threatens power cut – because the job center does not take over the bill

Created: 06/22/2022, 08:43

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

According to a report, the Hochtaunus job center did not pay the heating bill of a Hartz IV recipient until the woman was threatened with a power cut.

(Iconic image) © Hauke-Christian Dittrich/dpa

According to a report, the Hochtaunus job center did not pay the heating bill of a Hartz IV recipient until the woman was threatened with a power cut.

The case is still not resolved.

Friedrichsdorf – Actually, the job center for Hartz IV recipients should cover the costs for rent and heating to a certain extent.

But in one case reported by the

, the authority does not seem to have fulfilled its task: A 46-year-old from Friedrichsdorf im Taunus is in a dispute with the Hochtaunus job center because it has not paid her heating costs.

Hartz IV recipient threatens power cut - job center does not react

The joy of the woman, who receives Hartz IV, was great when she finally found an apartment last fall.

Before that, the 46-year-old lived in a homeless shelter, as reported by the

.

But the joy was short-lived: the year-end bill from her electricity supplier put her on a serious blow.

Because: Your heating runs on electricity and is therefore so high that the woman could not pay the bill.

As a result, she was threatened with a power cut.

Normally, in times of skyrocketing energy prices, the Federal Employment Agency pays the heating costs of all Hartz IV recipients, no matter how high they are.

The Hochtaunus job center did not do this in the case of the woman, as the

writes.

So she finally turned to Konstantin Seefeldt, co-founder of the OneWorryLess foundation, which supports Hartz IV recipients, at the beginning of the year.

The foundation was able to avert an initial power cut and advised the job center to bear the electricity costs.

However, several letters, registered mail, faxes and e-mails remained unanswered.

For calls, Seefeldt is put through to vacancy.

Only when the media were turned on did the job center react and tell the energy supplier that it would take over part of the outstanding payments - a week before the woman's electricity would have been turned off, as the

reports.

And with that, the case for the affected Hartz IV recipient is unfortunately still not resolved: The job center bills her for the payment to the energy supplier as a loan.

"Jobcenter accepts the next impending power cut"

Seefeldt criticizes this in the

: "Actually, the job center should have paid for the entire electricity costs for heating from the start.

And the 15 euros a month that they want to pay for heating costs in the future could just heat a cupboard,” he says. 

The job center told the newspaper: "As long as heating electricity and other household electricity cannot be separated from the meter, the job center must apply the legally fixed deductions." However, there are no fixed deductions for heating electricity.

Seefeldt therefore wants to object and sue if necessary.

"This is how the job center accepts the next impending power cut," he told the

.

Hartz IV: Job center and heating costs - that is the legal situation

But what is the legal situation when the job center covers heating costs?

In principle, heating costs have to be covered – provided that they are reasonable.

There are no fixed values ​​for this, but they are usually based on the nationwide heating level.

The individual situation of the Hartz IV recipient, such as their living situation, must also be taken into account.

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If the job center still finds the heating bill inappropriate, it cannot simply reject it.

The authority can only demand that those affected reduce their heating costs – usually within a period of six months.

The job center must inform them of this in writing.

And even then, Hartz IV recipients can object again and justify the higher costs.

For example, because they live in an unrenovated apartment - or have an expensive type of heating, as in the case described above.

If this justification is rejected and the heating costs are still above the level, the job center will only cover the reasonable costs.

The person concerned must then pay the remaining amount themselves.