About the energy rebate scheme
Properties that are eligible
The Government has given councils funding to provide £150 payments to households to help with the rising costs of energy bills.
Most occupied properties in Bands A to D are eligible. Specific criteria is as follows:
- Bands A to D (including Band E with a disabled reduction charged at Band D level)
- Liable person for council tax must also have the property as their sole or main residence on 1 April 2022
Or
- The property has an exemption class of N, S, U or W (shown on your council tax bill), but this covers properties occupied by students, under 18s, severely mentally impaired or occupied annexes
Properties that are not eligible
The following properties are not eligible:
- Liability is to a company
- Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)
- Empty properties
- Second homes
How and when you receive your rebate payment
If you pay council tax by direct debit
You should have received your payment on 26 May 2022.
A small number of direct debit payers have not been paid automatically for a variety of reasons, including:
- Our records show the property is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) or empty
- The liable 'person' is not an individual - i.e. the council tax is in the name of a company
- The direct debit appears to be paid by a third party
- The direct debit account is being used to pay council tax on multiple properties, suggesting some are HMOs or third party payment details
- The direct debit was set up or changed recently and we haven't taken a payment since the change or your latest instalment was returned unpaid. As the account is unverified, we are unable to make an automatic payment to it
- We have outstanding documents suggesting a recent move may have taken place and this has yet to be processed
If you pay by direct debit and haven't received a payment by 26 May, and believe you are eligible, you need to make a claim using our online form below.
How to claim if you do not pay council tax by direct debit
If you believe you meet the eligibility criteria, but do not pay council tax by direct debit, you can apply online for the rebate.
There are two options for claiming the rebate:
Include your property reference number when you claim
When you apply, you need to include your property reference number. You can find this on your 2022/23 annual bill or by visiting the GOV.UK website's council tax bands page. It appears as a local authority reference number.
The property reference number is 12 digits long and begins '10'. GOV.UK lists property reference numbers with 'PC' at the start. Please remove this when entering the number on the online claim form.
Credit check
Please note that applications for a bank account credit require approval of a credit check to be undertaken to verify the name, address and bank details of the applicant.
Deadline for claiming
The deadline for claiming the rebate is 10 July 2022. After this date, we will apply the credit to the council tax account of anyone we believe eligible who has not yet claimed.
If you have any issues while claiming, please read our 'Further information' section at the bottom of this page.
Scam phone calls and emails
You may have seen news reports about scammers cold-calling members of the public asking for bank details in order to process the energy rebate.
Please note that we will not contact you by phone or email asking for your bank details to make the energy rebate payment to you.
We are launching a dedicated online form on our website in mid-June where you can make your application for the scheme.
Additional support
A discretionary scheme will be made available to provide additional support to those considered in the most need. We will update this page when further details are available.