January
The ideal time. The bonuses restart straight away and the Assegno Unico keeps its full amount from March with no break.
CAF services · Benefits
Electricity, gas and water bonuses with ISEE
You no longer apply for the electricity, gas and water bonuses: they arrive on their own for anyone with a valid ISEE (the Italian indicator of household financial situation) below the threshold. Which means that if you do not renew your ISEE, you do not lose them over a forgotten form: they simply stop arriving.
01 · The mechanism
Electricity, gas and water bonuses with ISEE arrive on their own
Until a few years ago the social bonuses required an application to the Comune (the municipality). Today the mechanism is automatic: anyone who files the Dichiarazione Sostitutiva Unica (DSU, the self-declaration the ISEE is based on) and obtains an ISEE below the set threshold gets the discount directly on their bill, without doing anything else.
The match is made between the database of INPS (the Italian social security institute), which holds the ISEE records, and the information system that manages utility supplies. There is only one condition for it to work: the ISEE must exist and be valid.
You file the DSU
At the CAF (the authorised tax assistance centre) or on your own. It is the only step that requires action on your part.
The ISEE is issued
The certificate is available within a few working days and flows into the databases.
Automatic match
The system checks that the household declared matches the supplies in the household's names.
Discount on the bill
The benefit appears as a negative item on the following bills, often with arrears.
The bonus runs from the date the DSU is filed, not from the start of the year. Filing in January rather than June means months of extra benefit.
02 · The supplies
The three supplies that qualify
The social bonuses cover electricity, gas and water, with thresholds and amounts set periodically by the sector regulator.
| Bonus | Requirement | How it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity, for financial hardship | ISEE below the set threshold | Discount on the bill, in proportion to the number of household members |
| Electricity, for physical hardship | Use of life-saving electrical medical equipment | No ISEE needed: a specific application is required, with an ASL (local health authority) certificate |
| Gas | ISEE below the set threshold | Discount on the bill, varying by climate zone and use |
| Water | ISEE below the set threshold | A minimum quantity of water free of charge per household member |
| Higher threshold | Households with at least four dependent children | A higher ISEE threshold for access |
The electricity bonus for physical hardship is the only one that still requires an application: it is filed with the Comune or the CAF, with a certificate from the health authority confirming the use of equipment needed to keep someone alive. It is not linked to the ISEE and can be combined with the one for financial hardship.
03 · The checks
Your ISEE is below the threshold but the bonus does not arrive
This is the most frequent situation, and in the great majority of cases it comes down to a mismatch between the supply details and those in the DSU.
- Supply holder not part of the household: the contract is in the name of someone who does not appear in the DSU. It is the most common cause.
- Supply address different from the declared residence address.
- DSU with discrepancies or notes that suspend its effect.
- Certificate not yet issued: a few days pass between filing and availability.
- Non-domestic supply or shared condominium meter: the bonus covers domestic supplies for residents.
- Recent change of contract holder not yet aligned in the databases.
What to bring for the check
With these documents the cause can almost always be found in a few minutes.
- A valid ISEE certificate
- A recent bill for each supply
- The POD code for electricity and the PDR code for gas
- Your household status certificate, if the household has changed recently
04 · Not just bills
What else a valid ISEE opens up
The utility bonuses are the automatic part. A valid ISEE, however, is the basis for a long list of other benefits, almost all of which require an application.
- Assegno Unico (the universal child benefit): without an ISEE it is paid at the minimum rate, a loss that adds up to a considerable sum over the year.
- Nursery, school meals and school services: reduced fees set by the municipality, often with the ISEE for children.
- University support: grants, exemptions and reduced fees.
- Health and social care services: contributions to the cost of home and residential care, with the dedicated ISEE.
- Assegno di inclusione (the inclusion allowance) and other income support measures.
- Municipal benefits: public transport, rent support, exemptions from local taxes.
- Grants for textbooks and school materials.
05 · The calendar
When to file the DSU
The ISEE expires on 31 December each year and has to be renewed. When you renew it makes a difference.
By February
The reference deadline for not losing amounts on the Assegno Unico. After that, the benefit drops to the minimum rate and can only partly be recovered.
Just before a call for applications
Risky: working days pass between filing and certificate, and the deadlines of municipal calls are strict.
After a change
Birth, marriage, separation, death: the household changes and the ISEE has to be redone, even mid-year.
06 · A changed situation
When your situation has got worse
The ordinary ISEE looks at income and assets from two years earlier. If you have recently lost your job, or your income has dropped sharply, you end up with an indicator that no longer reflects your situation.
- The ISEE corrente (current ISEE) updates the income part to the last few months, and in some cases the assets part as well.
- It requires a documented change in your work situation or a significant drop in income.
- It has a shorter validity than the ordinary ISEE and has to be renewed more often.
- It requires an ordinary ISEE that is already valid: it does not replace it, it updates it.
Moving from the ordinary ISEE to the current one can bring the indicator below the bonus thresholds. It is one of the checks that is always worth making when your family situation changes.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
Do I have to tell my energy supplier anything?
No. For the financial hardship bonus the match is automatic and needs no communication to the supplier.
The exception is the physical hardship bonus, which is activated with a specific application supported by the health authority's certificate.
The bill is in my husband's name. Will the bonus still arrive?
Yes, provided the account holder is part of the household stated in the Dichiarazione Sostitutiva Unica. The match is made on the household, not only on the person who files.
The problem arises when the supply is in the name of someone outside the household (a parent, a previous tenant, the landlord): in that case the bonus does not start and the contract has to be transferred.
If I am just over the threshold, do I lose everything?
For the utility bonuses the threshold is a hard cut-off: above it, the benefit is not due.
Other benefits, on the other hand, work in bands, with amounts that fall as the ISEE rises. It is always worth filing even if you fear you are just above: thresholds are updated and there are many benefits.
I filed my ISEE in September. Do I get the bonus arrears?
The bonus runs according to the application rules set by the sector regulator, and generally covers a period starting from when the DSU was filed.
So it is not a full recovery back to January. That is why renewal should be done at the start of the year, not whenever you happen to remember.
Let's talk
An ISEE filed in January is valid for the whole year
It is the one formality that opens access to a whole range of benefits with no further applications. It is worth not putting it off.