Protected customer in Wallonia? Make sure you get the social tariff

In Wallonia there are two kinds of protected customer. Federal protected customers are households where someone receives certain CPAS benefits such as the integration income, certain disability allowances or the guaranteed income for older people, and tenants of social housing heated by collective gas (for gas only). They get the social tariff, the same everywhere in Belgium, from whichever supplier they have, and in most cases it is applied automatically. Since July 2023 the increased-reimbursement status (BIM) on its own no longer gives the right to it.

Regional protected customers exist only in Wallonia: people under a CPAS budget-guidance decision, in debt mediation with a CPAS or an approved service, or in a collective debt settlement. They get the social tariff only if their grid operator supplies them, not a commercial supplier. Ask your CPAS or debt mediator for a certificate, give it to your grid operator with a request to be supplied at the social tariff, and send a new certificate every year.

Whichever group you are in, check that your bills mention the social tariff. If you are protected but don't get it, ask the body that gave you the status for a paper certificate and give it to your supplier. Protected customers also have other rights: a prepayment meter is installed free of charge, a minimum electricity supply continues on a prepayment meter when you cannot top up, and in winter (1 November to 31 March) you can ask your grid operator for help to keep the gas on.