Help for microenterprises and for the most vulnerable households

ENGIE provides concrete support for individuals
 

We are dealing with all requests relating to customers’ inability to pay their bills on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the difficulties they are encountering. ENGIE BtoC has kept its customer services open in order to offer its customers quick and immediate answers. Personalized answers and adapted solutions can thus be provided, according to each person’s situation, such as the most suitable installment plan in the event of financial difficulties. In this complex period, ENGIE has BtoC wanted to remain contactable and accessible for its customers so that it can intervene in an emergency and continue to answer questions and concerns.

Several measures have been taken to help the most vulnerable households:

• For customers experiencing payment difficulties, we handle requests on a case-by-case basis to take account of possible customer difficulties and to agree on an arrangement in compliance with the regulations in force.
• As announced on Monday, April 6, we are reimbursing two months of electricity standing charges (April and May) for 600,000 “assisted” households, i.e. €12 million committed by ENGIE for its customers. This aid concerns households that have already received an energy voucher or aid from the Housing Support Fund and have an electricity contract with ENGIE on April 30. Reimbursements will be made from May for the month of April. 

In addition, we have launched a program aimed at better energy consumption, "Mon Programme pour agir", which currently allows us to make a donation for French hospitals, so that everyone can express their solidarity if they wish. To find out more (in French), go to particuliers.engie.fr. The video below is only available in French.

Help measures for microenterprises
 

ENGIE has set up a system for its small professional clients who have experienced particular difficulties (storekeepers, restaurant owners, freelance professionals, etc). 

Two days after the closure of “places receiving the public not essential to the life of the country,” without waiting to receive instructions from the government, ENGIE set up a six-month payment facility with an extension of the first due date until the end of the health crisis, at no cost, for companies with less than 10 employees which have had to suspend business (non-food trade, etc.) and those that have been strongly impacted by the crisis. 

ENGIE is encouraging professional clients who have been badly affected to make themselves known, ideally by using a form on its website.

Deferral requests have mostly been filed by the following categories of customers:  

• owners of restaurants, bars, cafés (43% of requests) 
• hairdressers and beauty salon owners (12%)
• non-food retailers (11%).  
   

To help speed up our response to the requests of our customers in difficulty, more than half the employees who work with microenterprises but are normally assigned to other functions spontaneously volunteered for training to strengthen the customer relations teams.

ENGIE thanks its teams mobilized in the field for their remarkable spirit of solidarity.
Find out more about ENGIE teams’ actions and operations to respond to this global health crisis: check out all our articles in our special report, Covid-19 Mobilization.