Recommendation 13 of the 2018 Annual Report

Recommendation 13 : “The supplier must clearly inform the customer that he cannot obtain both an energy efficiency certificate premium and a loan at a preferential rate for the same equipment”

0- Follow-up to the recommendation

Implementation in July 2018.

1- Observation

The claimant purchased a new boiler from ENGIE Home Service (EHS). This boiler comes with a special offer, namely a CEE (energy efficiency certificate) premium. He therefore sent supplier ENGIE an application for this CEE premium in due form. EHS did likewise, in parallel, without informing the claimant.
The premium had not been paid for eight months. In the context of the mediation process, supplier ENGIE stated that the application made by EHS was admissible. The Mediation service passed on this information to the claimant, which generated payment of the announced premium. However, supplier ENGIE decided otherwise some time later, as it realized that the claimant had obtained a loan at a preferential rate for this same equipment: therefore he could not obtain the energy efficiency certificate premium. This is because these two benefits cannot be combined.

2- Mediation solution

EHS failed to inform the claimant that these two benefits could not be combined, and because payment of the premium had been confirmed to the claimant during the mediation process, EHS agreed to pay the announced premium, in spite of the loan at a preferential rate. In this particular instance, the customer was a winner on two accounts.

3- Generic observation

When a claimant applies for an energy efficiency certificate premium, ENGIE Home Services must clearly inform him that he cannot obtain both an energy efficiency certificate premium and a loan at a subsidized rate for the same equipment, as the amount of the premium is of the same order as the gain he would make with a loan at a preferential rate.

4- Recommendation / Generic solution

ENGIE Home Services will remind its teams to ensure that this non-cumulation condition is clearly stated and explained to its customers when they apply for an energy efficiency certificate premium. This condition is clearly stated in the documentation sent to the customer to help him complete his energy efficiency certificate application.