Savings accounts, SNCB, Voo… what changes for Belgians this Wednesday

Aith the month of February, Belgians will see several changes for their wallets. Here are the details of what will change from this Wednesday, February 1st.

A new premium of 250 euros may be requested

From February 1, applications to be able to benefit from the 250 euro bonus for people who heat mainly with pellets can be submitted.

The form to be printed and returned to the FPS Economy as well as the web application will “normally” be put online on 1 February. “We are doing everything to get it ready on time,” we warned within the FPS Economy, which wants to guard against a possible computer hiccup when it goes online.

This flat-rate heating allowance of 250 euros is intended for consumers who heat themselves mainly with pellets at their main residence. Those who have benefited from the heating oil check or the federal gas bonus at the time of their application, or those who benefit from the social tariff for gas, cannot claim the “pellet check”.

Another condition, to be able to benefit from the bonus, you must have had the pellet delivered (at least 500 kg) by a company by blower truck or on pallets, between June 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023.

A copy of the delivery invoice and proof of payment will be required when entering the premium request, either via the form to be printed and returned, or when entering the request directly on the FPS Economy website. .

Applications may be submitted until April 30, 2023 inclusive.

Beobank raises interest rates on savings accounts

Like many other banks, Beobank will increase base rates and loyalty bonuses on its regulated savings accounts. These changes will take effect from February 1, 2023.

Existing Fidelity Plus, Excellence and Young regulated savings accounts will thus see their base rate increase to 0.25% and their loyalty bonus (for any new deposit or any existing amount for which the loyalty period will be renewed) to 0 .25%, while for the Classic account, the base rate will increase to 0.30% and the loyalty bonus to 0.10%.

The Step Up regulated savings account, which allows you to save up to 750 euros per month and which will be available again for opening from 1 February 2023, will offer a base rate of 0.25% and a loyalty bonus of 0.80%.

Finally, the bank also announces the launch of a new Save Plus regulated savings account. If the balance of the account after deposit is equal to or greater than 50,000 euros, the base rate will reach 0.25% and the loyalty bonus 0.80%. If the account balance after deposit is less than 50,000 euros, the base rate will be 0.25% and the loyalty bonus 0.25%.

Voo increases the price of certain offers

The bill for Voo customers will increase somewhat from February 1, the operator having decided to increase its prices by around 6%. However, service offers will be adapted.

Voo justifies this increase by “the completely exceptional economic situation”: energy prices, inflation above 10%, consequences linked to the pandemic such as the difficulties in supplying certain electronic components whose prices have also increased. These are all factors that directly affect the telecom sector, explains the operator.

At the same time, the company ensures that it will continue to develop its services in order to offer more comfort and speed by investing in its network. Thus, the “intensive” deployment of the Giga offer, allowing an ultra-fast Internet connection of up to 1 GB per second (Gbps), will continue and, by the end of 2023, one in two of the operator’s customers should be able to take advantage of it.

Currently, it is already available in the six Brussels municipalities where the telecom operator is present (Ixelles, Saint-Gilles, Uccle, Woluwé-Saint-Pierre, Auderghem and Evere), but also in Liège, Charleroi, Wavre and 22 rural municipalities. .

The prices of Zuny, the 100% digital unlimited Internet solution, and Voobusiness solutions for the self-employed, will remain unchanged.

SNCB adjusts its fares upwards

SNCB will adapt its tariffs on 1 February, with an increase of 8.73% on average, in order, explains the railway company, to cover a limited part of the increase in operating costs, induced by inflation and prices Energy.

A “senior ticket” for those over 65 will cost 7.80 euros (+0.60 euros) from February and a “young ticket” up to 26 years old will cost 7.10 euros (+0.50 euros). ). A normal ticket for ten journeys (“Standard Multi”) will become more expensive by 9 euros and will cost 93 euros in the digital version or 96 euros in the paper version.

The prices of home-work subscriptions and school subscriptions, the evolution of which is partly based on the evolution of the health index, will be adjusted by 9.73%.

The Diabolo supplement, paid by travelers for each train journey to and from Brussels Airport, will also be increased on 1 February. Users will now pay 6.40 euros in addition to the price of their ticket, compared to 6.20 euros previously.

Time credit reduction measures come into effect

Target of budgetary savings by the Vivaldi government, the time credit has been planed. The new rules concerning it will apply from February 1, 2023.

Thus, whatever its reason, the maximum duration of the time credit over the whole of the career will be reduced by three months, going from 51 to 48 months maximum.

In addition, full-time time credit (i.e. a complete interruption, whether you work full-time or part-time) with the reason of taking care of your child will only be accessible until the child is five years old. child, instead of eight years ago.

“For the right to time credit and to allowances within the framework of half-time and 1/5th time credit for the reason of caring for his child, the age of the child is unchanged (less than eight years )”, specifies the Onem to the press agency Belga.

The time credit is a device which allows workers in the private sector to suspend or reduce their working hours for various reasons, in particular to take care of a third party – whether it is their child or a seriously ill family member. – or, in another register, to follow a recognized training course.

The allowances paid by Onem remain unchanged, with the exception of the increased allowance which workers on full-time or part-time time credit with at least five years of seniority in their company could benefit from, who, she disappears.

These changes apply to any request submitted from 1 February. “Dossiers processed before this date are not affected by these changes”, emphasizes Onem.

The government estimates that these reduction measures will make it possible to achieve budgetary savings of 17.3 million euros.

Reimbursement for treatment against cystic fibrosis extended to 6-11 year olds

The drug Kaftrio for the treatment of cystic fibrosis will be fully reimbursed from February 1, 2023 for children aged 6 to 11 who meet the conditions. This will also be the case for Kalydeco monotherapy for patients from 4 months.

It will therefore no longer be necessary on this date to submit an application to the College of Orphan Drugs.