As part of their support package to help taxpayers with the rising costs of living, the government introduced the council tax rebate scheme. This scheme ran from April to September 2022 and was administered by local councils.
It was a one-off payment of £150, that you don’t have to pay back to help cover the cost of energy price increases.
Council tax energy rebate eligibility criteria
The council tax rebate scheme was payable to people living in homes designated in bands A to D. These bands are based on how much your property would have sold for on 1st April 1991, in England and Scotland. And 1st April 2003, in Wales.
This means the upper thresholds in the different UK countries are:
- England: £88,000.
- Scotland: £58,000.
- Wales: £123,000.
In total, this is about 95% of rented properties totaling almost 20 million homes.
I don’t know if I got my council tax energy rebate
The council tax rebate was paid straight into the bank accounts of people who pay their council tax by direct debit. But there were other payment options for people who weren’t using direct debit; bank transfer, redeemable vouchers, or a credit paid into your council tax account.
So if you’re not sure that you received your council tax rebate, the first step is to check through your financial records to see if you received your £150 in one of these ways.
If you can’t locate the payment, but fit the eligibility criteria, then get in touch with the relevant department of your local council.
What’s the discretionary council tax rebate fund?
On top of the Council Tax Rebate Scheme, the government has also allocated a total of £144 million for local councils as a ‘discretionary fund’. This is “to support any household suffering financial hardship as a result of rising energy bills. Local councils are responsible for determining who is eligible and for making payments under their discretionary fund.”
This gives local councils the ability to set their own criteria for their discretionary fund money. All the details should be on their website, including who’s eligible and how you receive any support.
Here will also be a contact number so you can ask any questions you have about making a claim. Discretionary fund payments can be made by your council until 30th November 2022.
If you’re not sure who your local council is, you can find it with this handy free tool. You just need to enter your postcode.
Additional support with energy bills
The government has also announced an Energy Bills Support Scheme. This is a grant of £400 towards domestic energy bills. It’s not open to businesses, only homes. You can find out how to get this help here which takes you to the energy bills scheme website.
