Beneficiaries

All domestic customers suffering from a serious illness or domestic customers who are the registered holders of the electricity supply in whose home lives a person suffering from a serious illness, forced to use electromedical equipment (identified by the Decree of the Ministry of Health of 13 January 2011) necessary for maintaining life, can obtain the bonus for physical hardship.
The bonus for physical hardship can be combined with the bonus for economic hardship (electricity - gas), if the eligibility requirements are met.

How to apply for the bonus for physical hardship

At the moment, automatic payment for the bonus for physical hardship is not foreseen, therefore, to obtain this bonus, the customer who possesses the requirements must submit the appropriate application to the Municipality of residence or to another designated by the municipality (authorized CAF).
The documents required to submit the application are:

• ASL certificate attesting to the serious health condition, the need to use electromedical equipment for life support, the type of equipment used and the hours of daily use, the address where the equipment is installed;
• identity document and tax code of the applicant and of the patient if different from the applicant;
• completed form B (available on Module B );
• POD code (energy delivery point identifier);
• committed or available power of the supply;
• telephone number that can always be reached so that the distributor can contact the customer concerned in the event of scheduled disconnection procedures (these utilities are in fact identified as not being disconnectable.

The distribution company, once the relevant checks have been carried out, applies the component of the bonus for physical hardship starting from the first day of the second month following the transmission of the information by the Municipality via SGate.

Conditions for admission to the bonus for physical hardship

In order for the bonus for physical hardship to be recognized, the following conditions must be met:

• for each person in serious health conditions, compensation is provided for only one collection point;
• the location of the electromedical equipment must coincide with that of the collection point for which the bonus for physical hardship is requested;
• the person requesting the bonus must be the holder of the supply contract;
• the typology of the electromedical equipment must be that of the decree of 01.13.2011;
• the ASL certification must indicate the intensity of use of the electromedical equipment (in the absence of such indication, the minimum intensity of use is automatically assigned by Sgate

Value and Delivery

The value of the bonus for physical hardship is divided into 3 levels, based on the contractual power, the life-saving electromedical equipment used and the daily time of use.
Every year on the ARERA website ( LINK ) the values valid for the current year are published.
The bonus amount is not paid in a single solution, but is credited in a deferred manner over 12 months directly on the electricity bill, in the form of a discount on the bill itself.
=> The bonus is paid for an indefinite period until the electromedical equipment is no longer used. It is not necessary to renew the request annually, however, in the event of cessation of use of the equipment, the customer is required to promptly notify the seller.

Change in the conditions required to obtain the social bonus

• Switching (change of supplier): in the event of a change of supplier, the continuity of provision of the bonus for physical hardship by the new supplier is guaranteed.
• Transfer: in the event of transfer of the supply first to the name of the disadvantaged individual entitled to the physical bonus, the compensation continues continuously.
• Cessation of use of electromedical equipment: in this case the benefit is interrupted from the first day of the month following the notification to the distributor by the supplier.
• Change in location, type or intensity of use of electromedical equipment: if these variations may give rise to a different compensation, the distribution company, once the relevant checks have been carried out, applies the component of the bonus for physical hardship starting from the first day of the second month following the transmission of the new information.