£150 council tax rebate… not available to me?? 23 June 2022 at 5:56PM in Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc 4 replies 202 views

Need2save

Has anyone has any idea or help with the following: 
So the council tax rebate of £150 has been given to Bands of A-D, regardless of income.

As well as the above, councils have a discretionary funds given by the government to help those that don’t fit in the A-D category. 

My problem is that my rented home is a band E, housing association home. 

I am on a low income working part time helped with tax credits to supplement my income at the moment, no council tax or housing benefits are available to me.

Hillingdon council seems to have forgotten those like me, haven’t heard anything and when I asked about it I was sent to apply for housing benefit.
 I know that I can’t receive HB as my eldest grown up child is in work. 

Can anyone tell me if they have had anything similar? The bills are bitting and £150 xtra would really help my family.

My manager who earns circa £30k plus husband £30k on a Band D property, was able to receive this help, when I mentioned how unfair it was that some are falling through the cracks… My manager said…don’t worry it’s only £150.

I could really use this to feed my family or pay my energy bill that has gone up since May after a locked deal ended.

 I’m quite confused with the way that this help has been attributed and not sure what I can do now.

comeandgo

I think it’s explained, if you live in a property with council band A - D you get the £150. If you live in a property E - G you don’t get it.  I imagine it was thought this way meant it was easily understood and not much extra in costs to implement it.  Unfortunately there are always those who think that the cutoff point is unfair but you will get the £400 reduction in your energy bills starting in October.

Need2save

@ comeandgo… that’s the point… I’m not sure if we’ll make it until October… everything is up now. Not only energy has gone up but everything else. 

 The discretionary fund has been set up to help those from band E plus on low wages, but I’m not really sure what is the category for this fund. Thanks for your comment anyways.

elsien

The discretionary fund will vary according to area.  From the government guidance:

37. Councils can determine locally how best to make use of this funding to support those suffering financial hardship as a result of the rising cost of living. This could include households living in property valued in bands E to H that are on income related benefits or those where the energy bills payers are not liable for council tax. Where councils consider it the best means of supporting those in financial difficulty, they can use the discretionary fund to offer carefully targeted ‘top-up’ payments to the most vulnerable households in bands A to D (for example, those on means tested benefits), or to offer discretionary support exceeding £150 per household.

You could ask your local councillor how it will be applied where you live. 

Can you increase your work hours as you say you work part time? 

Need2save

@ Elsien - Due to childcare provisions I only work part time, I’m hoping this will change once my youngest is older. 

Thank you very much for the details that you highlighted regarding the subject in question 😊.