Furnace Replacement 415-50-05-15

(Revised 10/1/14 ML #3407)

View Archives

 

 

Emergency Assistance may be made available for a LIHEAP eligible individual home owner or an eligible renter with verifiable responsibility for maintenance of their furnace.

 

LIHEAP can only replace furnaces that:

  1. are unsafe,
  2. are not operating,
  3. and/or cannot be repaired, and
  4. wouldn't be cost-effective to repair.

 

Requests for furnace replacement must first be carefully reviewed by the county social service staff using the guidelines in this manual section. County staff should only pay for furnace replacement if Community Action Agency staff are not available to replace the furnace. If the county staff concludes the request is not eligible under these guidelines, the request should be denied, and referral to the State LIHEAP Administrator is NOT necessary. If the county staff recommends approval of the request, the "Emergency Assistance Application," with all the supporting data, must be referred to the State LIHEAP Administrator for approval through the LIHEAP Emergency System.

 

If the State Administrator delegates the performance to Division of Community Services, eligible LIHEAP clients will be referred to a local Community Action Agency (CAA) for furnace replacement. No "Emergency Assistance" application is needed if the client is a current client of LIHEAP. Notification to the CAA can come from the County Social Service Board or the client. An approval letter is made available to client if he would like to contact the CAA himself.

 

Clients will be required to share in the cost of the furnace replacement as follows:

 

Clients at 41% - 60% of the poverty level  30% of the cost

 

Clients at 21% - 40% of the poverty level  15% of the cost

 

Clients at 20% of the poverty level or below 0

 

Clients in the 2% and 3% poverty levels will have their share of furnace costs capped at $500. A waiver may be granted for clients who are unable to raise their share of the furnace replacement costs.

 

The client’s share may come from other sources, but not LIHEAP or General Assistance funds. CAAs will assist clients in identifying and applying for other sources of federal, state, or private funds.

 

Temporary shelter, when necessary, will be the responsibility of the CAA.

 

Of course emergency situations will still occur that must be resolved before we can carefully negotiate a payment plan. We may need to make an immediate payment commitment to the supplier. But, the household must fully understand these guidelines. They should at least appear to be eligible, and you should be confident they will assume their responsibilities if some other payment plan is more appropriate. Or, to gain the necessary time, you may need to authorize payment of temporary alternative living arrangements for the household (See 415-50-05-15).

 

Note: LIHEAP will not pay to install a furnace as part of new construction or where the client has knowingly purchased a home that does not have a heating system unless the need for a replacement furnace is associated with a state or federally declared disaster.

 

If Community Action Agencies (CAAs) do not have money for furnace replacements, take the following steps:

 

  1. Household fills out emergency assistance application if they are presently on the fuel assistance program. If the household is not on fuel assistance, you will need to get a regular application and an emergency application.
  2. Determine eligibility for regular LIHEAP and for emergency assistance. Remember that for emergency assistance you only look at the income for the current month.
  3. If the household is eligible for emergency assistance and is requesting assistance with furnace replacement then you need to:
  1. Ask the household to contact two vendors to bid on the cost of the furnace and putting the furnace in. Vendors, if possible, should be close to the house that needs a furnace. The costs are lower when vendors are in the same community. You can ask the household if they have any ideas for vendors.
  2. Provide household temporary shelter if needed.
  3. Send a copy of the two bids to the state LIHEAP Administrator or Policy Analyst and a bid will be selected.
  4. Let vendor know that he was the one selected and work closely with him to insure that the furnace is put in quickly.
  5. Make payment (after the bill is received with detail on it) once the vendor has completed the furnace replacement, the furnace is working well and the household is satisfied. Use payment codes 13 and I to pay the vendor.