Second phase of the council tax rebate rolls out 

Rossendale Council have begun the second phase of the council tax rebate scheme with letters to households that do not pay by direct debit due to be posted out over the next week. 

The rebate was announced by the government earlier this year to assist households with the rising costs in energy. Properties in council tax bands A-D are entitled to the £150 rebate with a smaller discretionary fund for customers who do not meet the automatic criteria. Direct debit customers received the rebate at the beginning of May but the process for non direct debit customers has to be administered in a different way and has therefore taken slightly longer. 

A spokesperson for the council said: “There are always lots of scam and hoax correspondence circulating so we want to reassure residents that this is not one of them. If you do not pay for your council tax by direct debit, and there are still a number of households that chose not to, you are entitled to this money, and it’s import you claim the rebate before 31 July. 

“The letters should be dropping through people’s letterboxes over the coming weeks. Each letter will have a unique barcode, and the customer will need to take the letter to a post office along with two forms of ID in order to claim the payment. They will not be able to claim the payment if they do not have all the relevant documents.” 

There is also a smaller discretionary fund available for customers who do not meet the automatic criteria. Some discretionary funding will be available for council tax payers in band E-H but it will not be possible to make the £150 payment to all band E-H cases. These payments will require additional data checks before processing and will therefore take longer.  

“We are aiming to make all payments well in advance of the closing dates set by the government, but customers in bands A-D who qualify automatically will take priority. If residents have any general enquiries regarding the scheme they can contact counciltax@rossendalebc.gov.uk or go to https://bit.ly/RBCenergyrebate  for more information and FAQ’s.”