Energy rebate payments made to 133,000 Wiltshire households
The Council's encouraging households to claim if they haven't already
Wiltshire Council is encouraging households that have received a letter inviting them to register to claim the £150 Government energy rebate, if they haven’t already done so.
The authority recently wrote to 42,000 households that don't pay their council tax by direct debit, explaining what they need to do to claim the one-off payment.
So far more than 22,000 households that received a letter have contacted the council to register for the payment.
That means 20,000 are still eligible for the payment, but haven't taken steps to get it paid to them.
In February, the Government announced that all households in England whose primary residence is in council tax bands A to D are entitled to a one-off council tax energy rebate payment of £150.
More than 133,000 eligible households in Wiltshire have now received their £150 Government energy rebate, this includes those who pay their council tax by direct debit and many households that don’t.
Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council said:
“Wiltshire Council is committed to protecting those who are most vulnerable in our community, and we know that many people are struggling because of recent price increases. We want to pay this money to people as quickly as possible, so I would encourage anyone that has received a letter to contact the council and submit their details as soon as possible.
"People can submit their details via the council's website, or send their details to the council, however submission via the website is the most secure method. Assistance is also available at local libraries to provide further help to those without internet access."
The Government has given the council a discretionary fund to help households on low incomes who live in properties in bands E-H. The council has identified around 1,400 households eligible for this discretionary payment and will plan to write to them in July explaining how to submit their details.
This included households in receipt of council tax reduction, properties that have been adapted for a disabled person and households where people are disregarded for council tax because of disability.
Once these households have received their payments, the council will be opening up the scheme to applications from households in band E – H properties on low incomes.
Cllr Richard Clewer added:
“We have already paid out just under £20 million to 133,000 eligible households to support them through this difficult financial period.
“We also have a Household Support Fund and once all households eligible for the Government energy rebate have been contacted our payment team will be turning their attention to contacting households eligible for payments from that.
“It has been a tremendous effort by the payment team to pay all the energy rebate grants and I thank them for their hard work, and I thank local residents for their patients as we continue to work to make payments as quickly as we can.”
SCAM WARNING
We're also reminded that Wiltshire Council will not be telephoning people to ask for their bank details.
There have been reports of telephone scams in other parts of the country.
No calls of this nature have been reported in Wiltshire but anyone receiving a telephone call about the energy rebate should not give their bank details and should hang up and contact the revenues team at Wiltshire Council on 0300 456 0109.
Updates on the rebate and discretionary funding will be posted on the Wiltshire Council website at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/council-tax-energy-rebate later this month.
If anyone is worried, the council has a dedicated webpage with useful information and the support available. People should visit https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/worried-about-money.