Almost 1 in 3 Eligible Households Have Yet to Apply for £150 Energy Rebate

Published on: 30 Jun, 2022
Updated on: 6 Jul, 2022

By Martin Giles

At least 9,000 households in Guildford borough have yet to apply for a £150 energy rebate available to those in council tax bands A to D. But those who cannot apply online will have the amount automatically deducted from their council tax bills.

In February, Guildford Borough Council announced how council tax payers, in those property bands, would receive the rebate.   Since May, GBC has paid it to 21,000 eligible households but almost a third of households in the borough have yet to apply.

A council spokesperson said: “On the whole, these are people who do not pay by direct debit. The rebate is available to help households living in a band A to D property with rising energy costs.

Cllr Joss Bigmore

Council Leader Joss Bigmore (R4GV, Christchurch) said: “We want everyone who is eligible to receive this payment as soon as possible.

“I understand how vital this support is to help with the rising cost of living. If you are unable to apply online, we will take the rebate payment off your council tax bill. You will then receive a new bill in due course.”

“This will happen automatically in the next month or so. The customer doesn’t need to do anything for this to happen. We are encouraging customers to apply online so that they can receive the payment direct to their bank account. But it is not essential that they do so.”

The inability to apply online is thought a likely cause of the high percentage of missing applications. Claimants must apply online for the rebate rather than by phone, email or in writing. Older applicants, in particular, do not all have access to the internet.

Howard Smith

Howard Smith of Guildford Labour commented: “This is just more chaos from the administration at GBC.

“First the message was you have to apply online for your £150 rebate – completely ignoring the thousands of council tax payers who are not online. Now it appears the payment will be made automatically, no need to apply.

“Surely it would have been much simpler to adopt this method in the first place?

“Sadly this comes as no surprise – it’s from the people who in the last few months have closed public toilets, mismanaged the refurbishment of the paddling pool and who are now embroiled in the controversy over alcohol sales at Allen House. The only compensation is that it’s fewer than 12 months until the next borough elections.”

Those who do claim need:

• the council tax account number as shown on their bills
• their date of birth
• a bank statement which shows their name, address, bank account number and sort code

Things to remember:

• the £150 one off payment is for households living in council tax bands A to D
• households do not need to pay back the council tax rebate
• the rebate is usually paid within 10 days of applying
• you are still entitled to the rebate if you receive Local Council Tax Support. This is the case even if your council tax bill is less than £150

Full details to apply are on-line at: www.guildford.gov.uk/counciltaxenergyrebate

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