Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I rent privately/through council, do I get it or my landlord?
The Council Tax legislation states that if you rent a property that you should be the liable party for the council tax.
Therefore, if you are named on the council tax bill, you will receive the monies.
If you have recently moved into a property, or you are moving on or before 1st April 2022, you must ensure that you have registered for the council tax before 1st April 2022.
My Council Tax is included in my rent and I am not listed as the liable person for the Council Tax?
In most cases, in legislation, where there is a tenant/s in the property, the tenant/s should be liable for the council tax (please see the exceptions below).
Including your council tax in your rent is an agreement between you and your landlord, but you should still be named on the council tax account.
The Council is not going to be aware of some of these arrangements and we cannot pay out more than one payment per domestic dwelling. Therefore, you urgently need to contact the Council and register for council tax.
We may ask for a copy of your lease to ensure that you are who you say you are which will help to prevent a third party claiming your rebate. We may also need this evidence to discuss the account with your landlord.
Exceptions
There are some exceptions where the landlord would still be the liable person for the council tax:
- House in multiple occupation (see question regarding HIMO below)
- Residential Care Homes
- Those occupied by minister of religion or a religious community
- Residential staff or asylum seekers.
Who will be paid the £150 under this scheme if the House is In Multiple Occupation?
No one is eligible under this scheme – even if Class N. No payment will be made.
The Direct Debit on my account is not my bank account, it belongs to a relative or friend?
We will need to discuss this with you as we do not want to pay to a bank account not in the name of the council tax payer.
When we identify a customer where the name on the bank account does not match the name on the council tax account we will contact you either get different bank details for the payment or to obtain explicit consent that this can be paid to the bank details on your council tax account.
If you want the payment to go to a third-party bank account, we will need ID and a written, signed letter to confirm that consent has been given
This is to reduce the risk of fraud and a third party claiming your rebate.
Do I still get it if I am on benefits or received CT benefit?
Yes – as long as this is your sole or main residence, and you were in occupation of the property on 1st April 2022 (at the end of the day)
Will this pay my first council tax instalment for the New Year bill?
No – this payment is not going to be added to your council tax account. Every effort will be made to ensure that the payment is made directly into your bank account.
Whether you pay by direct debit or not, you must still pay your council tax for 2022/23 as shown on your annual council tax bill.
Normal recovery action will continue for non-payment of the monthly instalments.
Is it just a one off payment?
Yes – this is a one off payment of £150.
When’s the cut-off date?
The cut-off date for payments is 30 september 2022 – but we will need your application at least a week before this so that we can do any verification checks. So, your application needs to be made by 23 September 2022 at the latest.
Is it means tested?
No this is not means tested.
If you are on council tax support, this payment is also ignored as ‘income’ when assessing your council tax support.
If I become a council tax liable party for the first time in July for example…. Will I get it?
No – the relevant date for this scheme is 1st April 2022 – and you are only eligible for the scheme if the property is in Bands A-D on 1st April 2022 and you were the liable council tax payer on that date.
Are we going to have to pay this back?
No – you don’t have to pay this £150.00 back, unless -
- new information comes to our attention that indicates you were not the person eligible for the £150 energy rebate
When the government announced their Energy Scheme there were two parts to it. The first part is the £150 Council tax energy rebate.
The second part is that all households will have a £200 credit added to their electric bill in October 2022. You will have to pay this £200 back at £40 a year for 5 years.
Do I have to have it?
The money is paid to you as part of the Energy crisis. This will be paid to you automatically if you are on direct debit.
Customers not on direct debit will have to make a claim for the rebate.
Where the Council does not receive a claim for the rebate, the £150 will be added to your council tax account to ensure that you do not miss out on the rebate.
Once you have the money, you can decide what to do with it. So if you wanted to give this to charity for example, it is within your ability to do that.
Why don’t you just reduce my Council Tax?
Not everyone has a council tax liability, and the £150 will be paid to most of the people in Bands A - D.
Everyone is expected to receive this payment directly into their bank accounts as it is not a Council tax reduction or discount.
What you do with it once you have it is up to you.
When will I get it?
From week-commencing 25th April 2022, we have started to make payment to customers who pay Council Tax by direct debit as we hold current bank details for these residents. There are more than 45,000 households who are eligible for this payment and we are working hard to ensure residents receive the payment as soon as possible.
Once those who pay Council Tax by direct debit are paid, we will be contacting those households who pay Council Tax in other ways to obtain their bank details so that we can process their rebate. We aim to send the letter for this later in May 2022.
The government has stated all payments need to be processed by the end of September 2022, however we expect to have completed the scheme well before this date.
If you do not pay by direct debit, we will be gathering bank details as soon as possible.
You must still pay your council tax for 2022/23 as shown on your annual council tax bill. Normal recovery action will continue for non-payment of the monthly instalments.
The government requires us to do some checks on the bank account details we receive to ensure that we clampdown on any fraudsters trying to claim your rebate.
Please keep an eye on our social media and our websites where we will announce when non direct debit payers can make an application.
Until we make this announcement please ensure that you do not give out your bank details.
How will it be paid?
It will be paid directly into your bank account.
How will it appear on my bank statement?
This will show as a payment of £150.00 exactly from the Council.
I don’t have DD so how will I get it?
Please keep an eye on our social media and our websites where we will announce when non direct debit payers can make an application.
Until we make this announcement please ensure that you do not give out your bank details.
How will you contact customers about this and ensure that we are not scammed by fraudsters?
We will announce on our websites and social media when we are able to take applications from non direct debit payers.
We will also issue a letter to you with a ‘code’ for making your claim. You will need the code and your council tax account to make a claim.
You will have to log onto our website to apply. We will not ring you and expect you to provide bank details to us over the phone.
For customers who cannot access the internet, you will have to ring us on our main switchboard numbers or the number shown on your council tax bill and an officer will take your bank details from you.
You must have your council tax number with you for either the website or the phone call – we will not engage with any customer who does not have the council tax number.
This is to prevent fraud and to stop any third party claiming your rebate.
The scheme closes on 30 September 2022 – therefore if after we have taken reasonable steps to get your bank details and we have still not heard from you, we will put a £150 payment onto your council tax account. This will ensure that you do not miss out on the scheme. This will be done as a last resort as the government instruction is that where possible this should be a rebate and not offset against the council tax liability.
What if I’ve had a band reduction from E to D?
For the purposes of the scheme any change to the band of your property after 1st April 2022 is ignored.
What if I am not in band A-D, why don’t I get it?
This is a government scheme and we have only been funded for Bands A- D under this scheme.
I live in a house with other tenants and we have a joint lease so we are all named on the council tax account. Who will get the payment?
Where there is a direct debit on the council tax account we will pay the rebate into the bank account details we hold on file.
The Council will make one payment of £150 to the household using the bank details held on file. We will not split the payment between the members of the household.
Where there is no direct debit payment, we would expect one member of the household to make the claim on behalf of the whole household.
There will be only one claim of £150 per domestic dwelling and it will be assumed that the claimant is making a claim on behalf of the whole household.
The Council will not engage with members of the same household on the merits of who is the person who should claim or whether the £150.00 should be split between the members of the household. This is a discussion for you to have with the person who makes the claim.