The reform of the guaranteed minimum income (RMG) came into force on 1 January 2019, giving way to the social inclusion income (REVIS).
The law introducing the RMG dates from 1986. In doing so, the legislation created a right to public financial assistance for persons and households whose income does not reach a certain threshold, considered as the subsistence minimum. Since its entry into force, this text has been amended several times to be repealed and replaced by the law dated 28 July 2018 creating the REVIS. With this new legislation, the principle of a minimum income to support people in need is upheld, but the amounts and terms of granting it have been modified.
REVIS is one of the main resources for combating income poverty and social exclusion. In fact, every household living in Luxembourg has the right to seek solidarity action if its income falls below the guaranteed threshold. The law has opted for a universalist approach which provides for a generalized guarantee of a minimum standard of living to all persons, disregarding any cause that is at the root of the lack of resources. However, applicants for the REVIS must meet specific conditions of eligibility and the aid provided to the beneficiary is subject to a quid pro quo. Access to REVIS, which is reserved for residents, is therefore universal but not unconditional.
The aim of REVIS is to ensure that recipients who are no longer able to earn a decent living due to illness or disability are provided with adequate means of support. For those who are able to work, the aim is to provide them with measures that will enable them to actively prepare for their professional and social reintegration.
The REVIS consists of either the granting of an activation allowance, or the granting of an inclusion allowance to make up the difference between the REVIS threshold and the sum of the resources available to the household, or the joint granting of both allowances.
The two types of allowances
There are two types of allowances.
The Inclusion Allowance is a financial support that provides basic livelihoods to individuals and households who have no income or whose income does not reach a certain threshold (see below).
The activation allowance is an indemnity (within the framework of an activation agreement and not of a classic work contract) granted to people who are able to participate in activation measures such as “work of collective utility” and who effectively participate in them.
The activation allowance may be supplemented by the inclusion allowance to reach the minimum amounts guaranteed by the REVIS.
To be eligible for REVIS, the applicant must meet several conditions:
be officially and effectively resident in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
be at least 25 years old
have insufficient resources for their household, i.e. below the minimum set by the REVIS Law
be registered with ADEM and actively seeking employment
be prepared to exhaust all the possibilities not yet used in Luxembourg or foreign legislation in order to improve his situation (for example, find out whether he is entitled to unemployment benefits or a pension).
Exceptions allow a person under 25 years of age to benefit from REVIS, if:
this person is raising a child for whom he or she receives child benefit
she is pregnant (from eight weeks before the presumed date of delivery, justified by a medical certificate);
is of legal age but, due to illness or disability, is unable to earn a living within the limits of the REVIS Law (subject to a medical opinion issued by a doctor commissioned by the National Health Fund – NSF);
this person is a caregiver for a person who is covered by long-term care insurance.
Other exceptions remove the obligation to look for work and register with ADEM if the person:
is a full-time employee;
is prevented from doing so for reasons of physical or mental health (subject to a medical opinion issued by a doctor commissioned by the NSF);
has a justified opinion from the ADEM on his or her inability to enter the regular labour market, drawn up no later than one month from the date eligibility of the application REVIS was recognised (this inability is assessed on the basis of a person’s personal situation, language skills and professional background);
is in receipt of an old-age or disability pension;
is over 65 years of age;
is in receipt of cash sickness or maternity allowance;
is a beneficiary of parental leave and has an employment contract whose duration is equal to the normal duration applicable under the law or the collective agreement, if any;
is a caregiver of a person with LTC insurance;
completes secondary education (classical or general);
is self-employed for a period of six months, renewable once, and does not generate a professional income equal to or higher than the unskilled minimum social wage (SSM) (after this period, he/she must register with ADEM as long as his/her professional income remains below the unskilled SSM);
is self-employed and has a professional income equal to or greater than the unskilled SSM.
persons who are subject to a preventive detention measure or a custodial sentence (except in the case of day release, suspension of the execution of the sentence, conditional release or placement under electronic surveillance);
persons who are enrolled in higher education programmes;
persons who are have acquired a grant to obtain a residence permit (amended law of 29 August 2008 on the free movement of persons and immigration).
The following persons are not eligible for the REVIS for the month in which the events in question occurred and for the succeeding three months:
persons who have voluntarily given up or reduced their professional activity;
persons who have been fired for gross misconduct,
persons who do not comply with the cooperation agreement with ADEM or refuse to participate in a measure proposed by ADEM;
persons who refuse to collaborate with ONIS;
persons from which unemployment benefits have been withdrawn;
persons who make incomplete or inaccurate statements to the National Solidarity Fund (NSF);
persons who fail to inform NSF within one month of facts that may affect the calculation of their REVIS awards;
persons who are on unpaid or part-time leave;
persons who leave the Grand Duchy for more than 35 calendar days per year to stay abroad or who do not comply with the NSF summonses to check compliance with the conditions of access to REVIS.
However, NSF may grant exemptions for reasons related to the family, professional or health situation of the individual, duly documented and justifying an application for REVIS.
Provisions concerning certain statuses and nationalities
Additional provisions apply in specific cases :
Non-Luxembourgish applicants from a country of the European Union (EU), Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, as well as their family members, whatever their nationality, who have recently entered Luxembourg, are not entitled to REVIS during the first three months of their legal stay in the country or during the period in which they are looking for a job if they have entered the country for that purpose.
This provision shall not apply to employed or self-employed persons and to persons who retain that status, or to members of their families, irrespective of their nationality.
Applicants who are not from one of the above countries, and who are not recognized as stateless (Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, New York, September 28, 1954) or beneficiaries of international protection (Law dated December 18, 2015) or temporary protection (EU Directive 2001/55/EC) must, if they do not have long-term resident status, demonstrate effective residence for five of the last 20 years.
This residence condition does not apply to family members, whatever their nationality, of a Luxembourg, EU, Icelandic, Liechtenstein, Norwegian or Swiss national, or of a beneficiary of international protection (amended law dated 29 August 2008 on free movement and immigration).
The amount of the REVIS is determined according to two main criteria: the type of household and its resources.
Concerning the type of household
A household, or “domestic community”, includes all persons who live in a common household and who must be assumed to have a common budget.
There are some specific cases.
For a maximum period of 12 months, NSF may consider as forming a single domestic community a person of full age accommodated free of charge in a household not benefiting from REVIS, who is leaving a hospital, a therapeutic centre, a prison, a refugee home or another structure accommodating persons in distress for reasons relating to family, professional or health situation duly documented and justifying an application for REVIS;
The following are considered as forming a domestic community on their own, while receiving a reduced allowance, i.e. only the basic amount per adult (€901,94on 1st September2023, index 944,43):
parents who live in the non-REVIS domestic community of their adult children;
persons who have reached the age of majority and are unfit for work and who live in the domestic community of their parents or siblings who are not REVIS beneficiaries;
adults who are hospitalized for more than 2 months; however, the amount for common household expenses may be granted if the person proves that he/she has a personal dependent accommodation or is obliged to pay alimony.
All gross income (professional, replacement, pensions, indemnities, rents, alimony, donations, inheritance) and all movable assets (deposits on savings books, securities, interests, dividends, loans, valuables) and real estate (developed and undeveloped land, rents) of the household in Luxembourg and abroad are taken into account in calculating a REVIS award, including direct or indirect donations made by the applicant or the beneficiary of REVIS, as well as the acceptance of an inheritance by an heir of the applicant or the beneficiary of REVIS.
For the purpose of determining resources, the following shall not be taken into account
family allowances;
the back-to-school allowance;
birth allowances;
Special allowance for severely disabled persons;
cash benefits under the long-term care insurance scheme;
the professional income of a child under 25, up to the maximum amount of the inclusion allowance for an adult (basic amount per adult and lump sum for common household expenses: €1 803,88 on 1st September 2023, index 944,43);
financial aid from the State, social offices and other private social works.
The income “immunization” mechanism: if a domestic community receives certain types of income, 25% of it is said to be immunized, i.e. not taken into account in calculating a REVIS amount. In other words, only 75% of these incomes are taken into consideration for calculating a REVIS amount due to a household.
As such, the following incomes are “immunized” up to 25% of their gross amount:
professional income;
replacement income (financial compensation for sickness, accidents at work, occupational diseases, maternity, parental leave, unemployment, early retirement) and pensions;
compensation paid by ADEM for an employment measure;
activation allowance;
alimony payments.
Please note that the Allowance for the Severely Disabled is not “immune”.
Movable assets: for the determination of its value, an amount of up to €23,610,75 (on 1st September 2023, index 944,43) is not taken into account.
Housing: the value of the home occupied by the applicant is not taken into account in determining the full income
In case of disagreement on the determination of real estate value, an applicant may produce a recent notarial deed or an appraisal prepared by a sworn expert.
If maintenance is not set by a judge or if maintenance debtors only imperfectly or fail to pay their maintenance debt, the maintenance creditor, applicant or beneficiary of the inclusion allowance shall assert their rights as soon as the NSF requests them to do so by registered letter. However, no maintenance aid can be required of a direct relative in the first degree or by an adopter for a child over 30 years of age.
Provided that the applicant undertakes to take all the necessary steps to obtain food aid, the NSF may postpone setting and crediting the food aid for a period of six months from the first of the month after a registered letter has been sent.
If the maintenance creditor refuses to assert his or her rights against the debtor or refuses to pursue the matter further, the NSF shall determine a notional maintenance amount to be taken into account for the calculation of his or her income according to a reference table in the REVIS Law.
If a beneficiary of the inclusion allowance has personally made use of the legal possibilities of claiming maintenance under Luxembourg or foreign law and if the debtors of a maintenance obligation, while solvent, only imperfectly pay or fail to pay their maintenance debts, the NSF may take legal action to determine, revise and recover the maintenance claim in place of the creditor.
This action may relate to the period that has elapsed and its effects may be traced back to the date on which NSF charged the maintenance debtors to fulfil their obligation by registered letter.
Legal action cannot be brought against persons with a taxable income of less than three times the SSM (see Social parameters). Moreover, they can only be exercised up to an amount no greater than the maximum SSM. These limits do not apply if the maintenance debtor is a de facto separated spouse, a divorcing spouse, a legally separated spouse, a divorced spouse, a partner, a former partner or the direct first-degree parent of a minor child.
Maintenance settlements or waivers of maintenance inserted in divorce agreements by mutual consent are not enforceable against NSF.
The payment of the maintenance debt determined by virtue of a legal action brought by the NSF shall be made to the NSF.
In no case shall the inclusion allowance paid to the person concerned be less than the maintenance received in his or her stead by NSF.
REVIS is split into two components: the inclusion allowance (replacing the RMG supplementary allowance) and the activation allowance (replacing the insertion allowance).
The inclusion allowance is a financial support for a household. It provides a basic livelihood for people who have no income or whose income does not reach a certain threshold (see below).
It includes:
a basic amount per adult;
a basic amount per household for common expenses, which may be increased in the case of a household with one or more children eligible for family allowances for children;
a basic amount per child who receives the child benefit, which may be increased in the case of a single-parent household.
The activation allowance is compensation for a person who is participating in an activation measure.
The beneficiary of this allowance is temporarily assigned to work for the community under an activation agreement and not a classic employment contract, and is paid monthly on the basis of the unskilled SSM (see Social parameters), according to hours of assignment.
The activation allowance is subject to the social security contributions generally provided for salaries (health insurance, pension, dependence).
Depending on the composition and income of the domestic community, of which the beneficiary of the activation allowance is a part, the beneficiary may also receive an inclusion allowance to achieve the minimum amounts guaranteed by REVIS awards.
Maximum gross monthly amounts of the various components of the REVIS inclusion allowance
(on 1st September 2023, index 944,43)
Per adult
€901,94
Per child
€280,03
Increase, per child, for a single-parent household
€82,74
Flat rate for common household expenses
€901,94
Flat rate increase for a household with one or more children
€135,34
Examples:
As of 1stSeptember2023, a first REVIS-eligible household, consisting of two adults, can claim a maximum amount of € 2.575,44 gross per month: i.e. twice the basic amount per adult (2 x €901,94) and the flat-rate amount for common household expenses (€901,94)
On the same date, a second REVIS-eligible household, consisting of two adults and two children, can claim a maximum amount of €3.401,22 gross per month: i.e. twice the basic amount per adult (2 x €901,94) and twice the basic amount per child (2 x €280,03), as well as the flat-rate amount for common household expenses (€901,94), increased by the presence of children (€135,34)
At the same time, a third REVIS-eligible household, consisting of one adult and one child, can claim a maximum amount of EUR 2.301,99gross per month: the basic amount per adult (€901,94), the basic amount per child (€280,03), increased by the presence of a single parent (€82,74), as well as the flat-rate amount for common household expenses (€901,94), increased by the presence of a child (€135,34).
Under what circumstances should the inclusion allowance be returned?
REVIS recipients must report immediately any facts that may affect their entitlement to the NSF.
Reimbursements can only be made in respect of the inclusion allowance. Reimbursement of the activation allowance cannot be claimed, unless it has been wrongly received.
Where recipients had resources which should have been taken into account in calculating the award during the period in which the inclusion allowance was paid, amounts overpaid may be recovered from the recipients or their dependants.
Restitution is mandatory if the recipient caused the award to be made by stating inaccurate facts, or by concealing material facts, or if the recipient failed to report material facts after the award.
Amounts unduly received shall be repaid by the beneficiary or those entitled under him without prejudice to any legal proceedings. They shall be deducted from the inclusion allowance or from any arrears still owed to the beneficiary. This deduction shall also be made in connection with the recovery of maintenance payments advanced by the NSF on behalf of the beneficiary.
The NSF may only take a decision on restitution after hearing the persons concerned or their beneficiaries either orally or in writing. Reasons must be given for the decision.
In addition, NSF will reclaim the amount it paid in inclusion allowance in the following cases:
from beneficiaries who have become wealthier through circumstances other than activation measures or income from a professional occupation (in particular as a result of a gift, inheritance, sale of property or lottery winnings);
from a recipient of the beneficiary of the REVIS when the latter made a directly or indirectly paid sums over after applying for the REVIS, either in the 10 years preceding this request or after the age of 50, up to a maximum of the value of the property on the day sums were paid;
from the legatee of a beneficiary of the REVIS, up to the value of the bequeathed property on the day the estate is opened.
With respect to the estate of the recipient of the inclusion allowance, NSF shall claim restitution of the amounts paid as follows :
Where the estate of a beneficiary falls to the surviving spouse or successors in the direct line in whole or in part, NSF may not make any claim for restitution for an initial instalment of the assets of the estate fixed at €280,941.08 (as at 1st September 2023, index 944.43).
Where the surviving spouse or other lineal successor of a REVIS beneficiary continues to reside in real property that was owned either by the REVIS beneficiary alone or jointly by the REVIS beneficiary and his or her spouse, the NSF shall not, for as long as this situation persists, have a claim for restitution against that property or furniture within it. However, in order to secure the rights to subsequent restitution, the real estate shall be legally mortgaged.
If no direct successor and a surviving spouse exists, NSF shall not be entitled to make any claim for restitution in respect of an arrears instalment of €1,700, irrespective of the number of successors involved.
NSF may claim the return of the inclusion allowance against the third party responsible for the event which made payment of the inclusion allowance necessary.
In addition, with the agreement of a REVIS beneficiary, NSF may withhold part of the inclusion allowance in favour of a social agency to cover the minimum supply of energy and water, or to repay debts relating to the costs of acquiring or maintaining the home. The amount of the deduction varies according to the amount of the inclusion allowance: the maximum amount of the deduction corresponds to the lump sum for common household expenses and may not exceed 50% of the allowance paid.
As of 1st January 2019, applicants must complete the following steps in order to obtain the REVIS.
Step 1
First, an application form for REVIS must be filled out and submitted to NSF by mail.
The application form can be downloaded from the NSF website.
It is also available in paper format and can be submitted directly to NSF.
Applications can be made through the social office of the municipality where the person lives or through social sector associations.
The application must be signed by all adult applicants and include the following supporting documents:
a copy of the identity card of the adult applicants
a bank statement for the main applicant designated as the recipient of the REVIS (i.e. the person to whom the allowance is actually paid)
a copy of a registration certificate for non-Luxembourgish applicants from an EU Member State, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland
proof of legal residence in Luxembourg for a period of five of the last 20 years for applicants from countries other than those mentioned above and who are not stateless, are beneficiaries of international protection or have long-term resident status
if applicable, the decision on the recognition of the status of beneficiary of international protection by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The right to REVIS is open from the date of receipt of the application.
If the conditions of access are met, NSF sends a registered letter with the date of an appointment to the ADEM. This letter is sent to all persons between 25 and 65 years of age who are not working full time and who are not exempted. This appointment is mandatory. If you are unable to attend for professional or medical reasons, the appointment can be changed by ADEM.
ADEM establishes a profile for each applicant under 65 who is able to work.
Following an interview ADEM gives an opinion on the person’s ability to integrate into the regular job market, based on a questionnaire.
There are then two possible orientations:
If the claimant is deemed suitable for the labour market, he or she is registered with ADEM and monitored as a job seeker. In order to continue to benefit from REVIS, the applicant must remain registered with ADEM and actively seek employment.
If the applicant has specific needs in terms of social and professional activation, he or she is referred to the National Social Inclusion Office (ONIS) for follow-up, on the basis of a justified opinion from the ADEM.
This orientation is not fixed and can be revised according to changes in situation of the person.
NSF will notify the applicant of the decision to grant or refuse REVIS by registered letter no later than three months after receipt of the application.
The notification shall determine the amount of the inclusion allowance and the start date for its payment, state the income and assets taken into consideration by the NSF and provide the necessary information on the affiliation to the sickness and maternity insurance scheme.
For applicants with specific needs in terms of social and professional activation, after receiving the opinion from ADEM, ONIS summons the REVIS beneficiary to an information meeting, after which he or she signs a cooperation statement.
The mission of the ONIS is to “stabilize and activate” people who are far from the labour market through measures that meet the individual needs of applicants and take into account changes in their skills.
Stabilization and activation measures are preparatory measures designed to improve the employability of beneficiaries and increase their chances of integration into the labour market.
The International Labour Organization defines the concept of employability as the ability of individuals to find and keep a job, to progress at work and to adapt to change throughout their working lives (Report of the Commission on Human Resources Development, 30 May – 15 June 2000).
After signing the cooperation statement, beneficiaries are referred to a regional social inclusion officer, with whom they draw up an activation plan to be approved by ONIS.
This activation plan contains:
the social or professional activation project
the mutual commitments, a timetable for action and the conditions for evaluating the results obtained under the project
the facilities offered to the beneficiary
The activation plan may not exceed one year, but is renewable. If necessary, a new activation plan can be established at any time.
The activation measures to which beneficiaries can be assigned according to their activation plan are:
community service work
The practical details of the assignment (type of activity, start and end, nature of the work, number of hours to be worked, timetable and obligations) are set out in an activation agreement to be signed by the person assigned, the assigning organisation and ONIS.
The activation agreement may not exceed one year, but is renewable. If necessary, a new activation agreement can be drawn up at any time.
Beneficiaries assigned to community work are entitled to an activation allowance, paid monthly on the basis of the unskilled SSM, depending on the hours of assignment. Depending on the composition and income of the domestic community to which beneficiaries of the activation allowance belong, they may also receive an inclusion allowance to reach the minimum amounts guaranteed by the REVIS.
social stabilization activities or preparation for community service;
practical courses and training to support activation measures;
cures, treatments or other rehabilitation measures intended to restore or improve fitness for work (on the proposal of the Social Security Medical Examiner).
The following may be exempted wholly or partly from participation in one or more activation measures on the advice of experts in the medical, psychological, educational, social or vocational guidance field mandated by the Director of the ONIS who are competent to carry out examinations to assess the state of physical or psychological health or the social or family situation:
a person who is raising a child for whom he or she receives child benefit, if there are serious reasons for not carrying out the activation measures (e.g. no childcare);
the person qualified as a caregiver under LTC insurance;
a person whose physical or psychological health or social or family situation is such that the fulfilment of the activation measures is temporarily inappropriate or impracticable;
a person who is enrolled in secondary education (classical or general).
Unless it is established on the basis of a justified opinion from mandated experts, the exemption may not exceed one year, but it is renewable. The reasons for the exemption must be recorded in the activation plan.
If the exemption is established on the basis of a justified opinion of experts and the reasons for the exemption are definitive, the person concerned shall be notified in writing.
For the duration of the exemption, the right to the inclusion allowance remains open. The right to the inclusion allowance also remains open to a person who does not participate in an activation measure because of the lack of an appropriate measure.
Persons who have become capable of entering the labour market are referred by the ONIS to ADEM. These must then be registered with ADEM and actively seek employment. The other persons can continue with the activation measures organised by ONIS.
For a maximum period of three months, persons whose file has been taken over by ADEM may continue to be entitled to the activation allowance if they continue to meet the conditions for REVIS.
If the NSF finds that the conditions for benefiting from REVIS are no longer met during the period of the activation plan, it shall terminate the payment, after informing ONIS in advance, as from the first day of the month following the month in which it became aware of this information.
It should be noted that beneficiaries who do not meet the conditions of the activation plan may be sanctioned. The behaviours targeted include:
failure to comply with the commitments or timetable for action set out in the activation plan
refusal to participate in activation measures
failure to comply with the terms of the activation agreement
unjustified absence from an appointment scheduled by registered letter from the ONIS
Sanctions are graduated, in three stages:
The person is first given a written warning.
In the event of a repeat offence, the activation allowance and the components of the inclusion allowance (basic amount per adult and lump sum for common household expenses) are reduced by 20% for the succeeding three months from the date of the decision taken by NSF.
If a new offence occurs, the entire activation allowance and the components of the inclusion allowance (basic amount per adult and lump sum for common household expenses) are suspended for the following three months from the date of the decision taken by the NSF.
However, the entire activation allowance and the components of the inclusion allowance (basic amount per adult and lump sum for common household expenses) may be suspended with immediate effect in the event of serious grounds arising from the act or omission of a person for whom social and occupational activation applies.
Any act or omission which makes it immediately impossible to maintain a relationship with ONIS, the regional social inclusion officer or the body to which the person is assigned under an activation measure shall be considered to constitute serious grounds.
In sum, the three main entities involved in the processing of REVIS are:
NSF is responsible for managing REVIS, including applications, decisions and payments.
ONIS is responsible for monitoring and organising stabilisation and activation measures.
ADEM is responsible for the regular monitoring and organisation of employment measures.
What transitional provisions apply to recipients of the RMG?
There are transitional provisions for certain households receiving the RMG before 1st January 2019.
The general principle is that if the beneficiaries continue to meet the legal conditions, they were to receive the RMG up to and including 31 December 2018 and from 1st January 2019 they were to receive the REVIS. The detailed calculation of the REVIS to which they are entitled was sent to them by post.
However, if the amount of the RMG supplementary allowance in December 2018 is higher than the amount of the REVIS inclusion allowance, they continue to receive the higher amount as long as their household composition or income does not change (in this case, the index adjustment, the SSM rate or the pensions do not come into play).
If the RMG beneficiaries were participating in a work integration activity that had not yet been completed on 31 December 2018, this activity would continue and the agreement was to be adapted to the new REVIS terms.
In addition, households whose only income on 31 December 2018 consisted of one or more pensions, or the child-rearing benefit, and whose social inclusion allowance (REVIS) was lower than the supplementary allowance (RMG), benefited from the following maximum amounts (as of 1st September 2023, index 944,43):
€1 802,45 for a single person
€2 703,81 for a household of 2 adults
€515,76 for the additional adult living in the household
€163,96 for each child entitled to child benefit living in the household
In addition, these households continue to benefit from the former “immunisation” applied under the RMG. In other words, in calculating the allowance, pensions and education allowances are only taken into account if they exceed 30% of the RMG in total.
When a person leaves these domestic communities, these amounts are applied according to the new family situation. However, if a new person joins these households and the benefit has to be recalculated, the new amounts and provisions of the REVIS are to be applied.
If rights to REVIS entitlement were interrupted after 1st January 2019, or any increase in the income status of the domestic community (excluding index adjustment, SSM rate, or pensions), any new REVIS application from the same beneficiary shall no longer be processed under the transitional provisions.
After receiving the decisions of the competent entities, it is useful to check all the data carefully and to have them explained if necessary. If the persons concerned do not accept certain data or conditions, it is advisable to first contact the competent authority or the social office of the municipality. In this way, many disputes can be quickly resolved.
However, if they still do not agree, they can file an objection.
The persons concerned shall have the right to appeal against any decision of the NSF to the President of the Social Security Arbitration Tribunal within 40 days of receiving notification of a decision.
The decision of the President of the Social Security Arbitration Tribunal may be appealed to the Higher Social Security Council within 40 days of receiving notification of the contested decision.
The Arbitration Tribunal shall rule as a last resort up to a value of €297.47 euros, and on appeal when the value of the dispute exceeds this sum.
An appeal may be lodged on points of law to the Court of Cassation against the final decisions of the Arbitration Tribunal and against the judgments of the Higher Court within 40 days of the notification of the contested decision.
In addition to REVIS, there are other public aids for low-income households.
Housing subsidies
The Social Real Estate Agency
People on low incomes who have difficulty finding housing have the opportunity to rent property through the Social Housing Agency (AIS). The AIS provides low-cost housing suited to the composition of a household on preferential terms for a maximum period of three years. During this period, the tenant agrees to undergo social monitoring.
Further information on access requirements and procedures is available from the Ministry of Housing and AIS.
State aid for financing a rental guarantee
People who wish to rent a home but who do not have the necessary means to finance a rental guarantee (solvency guarantee or surety) required by the landlord, can apply for assistance in financing this guarantee.
Further information on the conditions of access and the steps to be taken is available from the Ministry of Housing.
Subsidized housing
The Housing Fund and the Société nationale des habitations à bon marché (SNHBM), as well as certain municipalities, make housing available for rent to people on low incomes under certain conditions.
The rent is calculated on the basis of the net annual disposable income of the tenant household and the usable living area of the dwelling.
Additional information on the conditions of access and the steps to follow is available from the Housing Fund and the SNHBM.
Rent subsidy
Since 1 January 2016, housing assistance in the form of a rent subsidy can be obtained from the Ministry of Housing. This subsidy is intended to help low-income households to access, on a rental basis, decent housing. The amount of this monthly subsidy can extend to a maximum of €300 depending on the income and composition of the household.
Further information on the conditions of access and the steps to be taken is available from the Ministry of Housing.
Social assistance ensures that persons in need and their families have access to goods and services appropriate to their particular situation in order to help them maintain their independence and lead a dignified life. In order to apply for social assistance, the person in need must apply to the social office of the municipality in which he or she lives.
NSF grants a cost-of-living allowance to low-income households upon application. The amount of the annual allowance is determined according to the composition of the applicant’s household.
The “assistance for fuel-poor households” department aims to provide better support to low-income households that cannot pay their electricity, gas, water and heating bills due to lack of financial means. These households can get personalised energy advice and a subsidy for the replacement of one or more energy-consuming household appliances (refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher or washing machine).
Further information on the conditions of access and the steps to be taken is available from the social office in the municipality where the household lives.
Alimony and child support
If a person finds himself in an economically difficult situation, the alimony due to a spouse, for a child or parent can be advanced upon request and under certain conditions by NSF, and this debt will be recovered by it.
The main objective of the social third-party payer is to facilitate access to medical and dental care for people in difficulty. People on low incomes can apply for the social third-party payment scheme at the social office of the municipality in which they live. This means that they no longer have to advance their health care costs, medical and dental services are paid directly by the National Health Fund (CNS).
The “gerontological aid” supplement is payable to persons who have been admitted indefinitely to a supervised accommodation, integrated centre for the elderly or care home, but whose personal resources are insufficient to cover the cost of accommodation and personal needs.
