£150 Council Tax Energy Rebate
This government scheme closed on 30th September 2022. Further details about the scheme can be found below:
The government announced on 3 February that households in England, which are in council tax bands A-D, will receive a £150 rebate to help those affected by rising energy and other living costs. Unlike another scheme announced by the government, this £150 rebate will not need to be repaid.
The £150 Council Tax energy rebate for eligible council tax payers in bands A – D.
Your Council Tax band is shown on your Council Tax bill. Alternatively, you can check your band by entering your postcode on the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) website.
What is the Council Tax Energy Rebate?
The energy rebate is a one-off fixed payment of £150 which the Council will pay on behalf of the Government.
A maximum of one payment will be made per eligible property, even if more than one person is named on the Council Tax bill or lives in the property.
No adjustment to this sum will be made for single-person households or multi-person households.
Who is eligible?
The person named on the Council Tax account who meets all the following criteria at 1 April 2022:
- Their home is valued in council tax bands A – D. This includes property that is valued in band E but has an alternative valuation band of band D as a result of a disabled band reduction;
- It is the council tax payer’s sole or main residence;
- It is a chargeable dwelling, or is in one of the following exemption classes:
- N – property occupied only by students
- S – property occupied by only by people under 18 years of age
- U – property occupied only by people who are severely cognitively impaired
- W – self-contained annexes occupied by elderly or disabled relatives
Who is not eligible?
No energy rebate will be paid in respect of:
- A property that has no permanent resident and is someone’s second home
- An unoccupied property (for the purposes of calculating council tax)
- Where the council tax payer is exempt from paying council tax for any reason other than one of the four classes referred to earlier.
- Where the person who is liable to pay the council tax (or would be if he property was not exempt) is a local authority, a corporate body or other body such as a housing association, the government or governmental body.
How and when will it be paid?
The Government has advised councils that all energy rebate payments must be made by 30 September 2022.
As of 30 September, we have paid 40,000 payments to customers where we have been able to verify their payment details. These customers paid their council tax via direct debit.
Please note, we were required to carry out pre-payment assurance checks to verify that the bank details held match the liable taxpayer named on the council tax records before issuing the payment.
For non-direct debit paying customers (or those who pay via direct debit whose details failed pre-payment checks), vouchers were issued to enable customers to claim the rebate via the Post Office network. In total, we have issued 13,351 vouchers.
There is a small number of customers who have been unable to redeem their vouchers, or due to changes we are unable to issue a voucher by 30 September 2022. In these instances, customers will have the £150 energy rebate credited to their council tax account. A revised bill will be issued. If the credit is left on the account it will automatically reduce ongoing installments. If you wish to request the credit as a refund, instructions on how to do so will be included with your revised council tax bill.
Council Tax Energy Rebate FAQs
Our Customer Contact team is currently receiving very high levels of calls regarding the the £150 Council Tax Rebate. We have therefore created a list of some of most frequently asked questions to help residents more efficiently and effectively.
Direct Debit sign up
If you do not already pay by Direct Debit, why not request to pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit today?
The council offers a variety of payment dates to accommodate the personal circumstances of the bill payer.
Changes in circumstances
As the effective date for the Council Tax Rebate is 1 April 2022, changes made to the council tax band of your home after this date will not be taken into consideration. The exception to this is newly built homes awaiting a valuation band, in these circumstances if the effective date is 1 April or before, a payment can be made provided all the eligibility criteria is met.
Discretionary Funding
The council has been allocated some discretionary funding to provide support to other energy bill payers who are not eligible for the main scheme.
Our priority for the discretionary scheme will be the following groups: -
- People living in band E-H properties who are in receipt of council tax reduction
- People living in band E-H properties who are in receipt of a class U exemption as all members of the household are severely mentally impaired
- People living in band F-H properties who are in receipt of a band reduction on the basis that their property has been specially adapted to meet disability needs
In addition, the property must be the council tax payer’s sole or main residence and a chargeable dwelling, or is in one of the following exemption classes:
- N – property occupied only by students
- S – property occupied by only by people under 18 years of age
- U – property occupied only by people who are severely cognitively impaired
- W – self-contained annexes occupied by elderly or disabled relatives
We do not anticipate any requirement for an application process and we will make payment directly to eligible households.
Further information
More information about the £150 Council Tax rebate, as well as other ways the government is helping with rising energy costs, is available at Gov.uk.
Not sure of your council tax band?
You can check the My Property section of the website to find out your council tax band, or check your latest bill. Banding is set by the Valuation Office.
