Council Tax energy rebate
What is the energy rebate?
To help with increased energy costs, the Government has recently announced a £150 Council Tax energy rebate for certain households.
It is a one-off payment that does not need to be repaid.
We provided information regarding the rebate with our Council Tax billing for 2022/23.
Who is eligible?
To qualify for the Council Tax energy rebate, the following conditions must be met on 1 April 2022:
- The property is valued in Council Tax bands A to D. This also includes property that is valued in band E but has an alternative valuation band of band D, as a result of the disabled band reduction scheme. Your Council Tax band is shown on your bill or you can find your Council Tax band on the GOV.UK website.
- The property is occupied as someone’s only or main home.
- It is a chargeable dwelling, or in Council Tax exemption classes, N (occupied only by full-time students), S (occupied only by persons under the age of 18), U (occupied only by persons with a severe mental impairment) or W (an annex to a property occupied by the dependant relative of the person living in the main property).
- A property that meets all the criteria but has a nil Council Tax liability as a result of local Council Tax support, will also be eligible.
Properties that have no permanent resident such as unoccupied properties or second homes will not be eligible.
Landlords or tenants of properties that are classed as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) for Council Tax purposes (including those wholly occupied by full-time students and exempt from Council Tax under Class N) are not eligible for a payment from the main scheme.
In addition, the liable Council Tax payer cannot be a local authority, a corporate body or other body such as a housing association, the government or governmental body.
How will my household get its £150 rebate?
Last updated: 15 September 2022
In July 2022, PayPoint vouchers were sent to all remaining eligible households that hadn’t received their £150 energy rebate payment. The vouchers had an expiry date of 31 August 2022. We have now received an update of the households that have not cashed either both or one of the vouchers.
For these households, we will credit the 2022/23 Council Tax account with the amount equivalent to the uncashed vouchers. We aim to do this by the end of October 2022. If there is no Council Tax outstanding on the 2022/23 account, or the amount outstanding is less than the value of the payment, we will transfer the remaining credit to reduce the amount of Council Tax owed for any previous years or carry it forward to reduce the amount of Council Tax for 2023/24.
Refunds
If there is no money outstanding on any other years as above, and our records indicate that there will be no Council Tax due for 2023/24, we will issue a refund by cheque.
If you have received a payment but don't think you are eligible
If you have received an energy rebate payment but you don’t think that you qualify for the payment, please email counciltaxenergyrebate@derby.gov.uk and we will tell you what to do. If you know you are not entitled to an energy rebate payment but keep it, we may take steps to recover the money and you may be found guilty of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006.
Energy rebate discretionary scheme
The Government has provided additional funding to councils to operate a discretionary scheme.
The purpose of the discretionary scheme is to:
- support certain households not eligible for the main Council Tax energy rebate
- provide additional support to our most vulnerable households.
Eligibility criteria
We have decided that a discretionary payment will be made to households providing that one of the following criteria is met:
| Eligibility criteria | Value of award |
|---|---|
| Households in receipt of Council Tax Support on 1 April 2022 and on the same date had their sole or main residence in a property in Council Tax bands E, F, G or H | £150 |
| Households in receipt of Council Tax Support on 1 April 2022 and on the same date had their sole or main residence in a property in Council Tax bands A, B, C or D | £20 |
| Households in receipt of a disabled person’s band reduction on 1 April 2022 and on the same date had their sole of main residence in a property in Council Tax bands E, F, G or H | £150 |
| Households in receipt of a severely mentally impaired Council Tax disregard on 1 April 2022 and on the same date had their sole of main residence in a property in Council Tax bands E, F, G or H | £150 |
| Households in receipt of a carer Council Tax disregard on 1 April 2022 and on the same date had their sole of main residence in a property in Council Tax bands E, F, G or H | £150 |
| Households that on 1 April 2022, were exempt from Council Tax because all residents were severely mentally impaired and had their sole or main residence in a property in Council Tax bands E, F, G or H | £150 |
| Households in receipt of a local Council Tax discount on April 2022 because the property was the sole or main residence of a care leaver, and the property was in Council Tax bands E, F, G or H | £150 |
| Households in receipt of a local Council Tax discount on April 2022 because the property was the sole or main residence of a care leaver, and the property was in Council Tax bands A, B, C or D | £20 |
| Households in receipt of housing benefit only on 1 April 2022 and on the same date had their sole or main residence in a property with a Council Tax band E, F, G or H | £150 |
| Households in receipt of housing benefit only on 1 April 2022 and on the same date had their sole or main residence in a property with a Council Tax band A, B, C or D | £20 |
| Households where a review, proposal or appeal pre-dating the announcement on 3 February 2022 had been made against the Council Tax valuation band shown in the Valuation List, which is successful after 1 April 2022 and as a result, reduces the Council Tax band effective on 1 April 2022 to A, B, C or D and therefore would have been eligible for an award from the main scheme | £150 |
There will be no need to apply for the payment as it will be made automatically based on the data we hold.
Payments will be made by crediting the households Council Tax 2022/23 account. We aim to do this by the end of September 2022. If there is no Council Tax outstanding on the 2022/23 account, we will transfer the credit to reduce the amount owed for any previous years or carry it forward to reduce the amount of Council Tax for 2023/24.
If there is no money outstanding on any other years, and our records indicate that there will be no Council Tax due for 2023/24, we will issue a refund. Where possible, we will issue a refund directly to the household’s bank account if we have the details, or by cheque if we don’t.
I've received a payment but didn't meet the eligibility criteria
The rebate is being paid on the assumption that the person it has been sent to was a liable Council Tax payer on 1 April 2022 (or who would have been if the property were not exempt from paying Council Tax) and that they occupy a property which meets all the following criteria on 1 April 2022:
- it is valued in Council Tax bands A to D. This includes property that is valued in band E but has an alternative valuation band of band D, as a result of the disabled band reduction scheme
- it is someone’s main residence
- it is a chargeable dwelling, or in exemption classes N, S, U or W (where class N is a property occupied only by full-time students, class S is a property only occupied by a person aged under 18 years old, class U is a property only people by people who are severely cognitively impaired and class W is an annexe only occupied by a dependent elderly or disabled relative).
If you have received a payment and don't think that you meet the eligibility criteria, the rebate may need to be repaid. Please tell us by emailing counciltaxenergyrebate@derby.gov.uk.
Change in circumstances
As the effective date for the Council Tax energy 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.
Council Tax Support and housing benefits
The energy rebate won't affect how much Council Tax support or housing benefits that you receive.
Tax credits and Universal Credit
The Council Tax energy rebate is non-taxable so it will not impact tax credits. If you receive tax credits, you don't need to report the payment to the HRMC as income.
The energy rebate won't affect how much Universal Credit you receive.
Can I receive the rebate if I have no recourse to public funds?
As long as you meet the eligibility criteria then you will received the rebate. The Council Tax rebate (as part of the Energy Rebate Scheme 2022) is excluded from being considered a public fund under paragraph 6.2(i) of the Immigration Rules. This means that it is available to people who have no recourse to public funds, other than those who do not have leave to enter or remain in the UK and fall within one of the cohorts listed under Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.