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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Council tax refund £150

76 replies

AlternativelyWired · 09/02/2022 20:46

Please could someone explain this to me? Is it £150 credited to your bank account or does it get deducted from your council tax bill?

OP posts:

Ifailed · 09/02/2022 20:51

it gets taken off the bill, which will no doubt go up by more than £150.

BuddhaForMary · 09/02/2022 20:52

What @Ifailed said. Council tax is going up this year anyway so likely will absorb the £150 and bill will remain the same. Awesome stuff. Not.

ilovemybeachhut · 09/02/2022 20:58

I'll be interested to see how this works. Ours is already £225pm.

Original poster

AlternativelyWired · 09/02/2022 23:37

So it's not £150 anyone will see as such. Typical.

OP posts:

SleepingStandingUp · 09/02/2022 23:38

@BuddhaForMary

What *@Ifailed* said. Council tax is going up this year anyway so likely will absorb the £150 and bill will remain the same. Awesome stuff. Not.

Are they expected to go up that much? That would nearly double ours

Chloemol · 10/02/2022 00:05

@AlternativelyWired

So it's not £150 anyone will see as such. Typical.

Council tax will go up, as will police and fire which are collected at the same time, plus possibly parish council if you have one

So the £150 offsets that, so actually you will see it because you won’t have to find the increase

That said next year there won’t be the £150, and council tax will go up again so it’s a huge increase for everyone

IveNameChangedAgain2020 · 10/02/2022 00:07

Mine went into my bank account. You can request that happens

Original poster

AlternativelyWired · 10/02/2022 09:03

@IveNameChangedAgain2020 I thought it was in April?

OP posts:

IveNameChangedAgain2020 · 10/02/2022 09:26

@AlternativelyWired I moved just before Christmas and therefore was due a refund so they credited my bank account

BuddhaForMary · 10/02/2022 10:10

@IveNameChangedAgain2020 you getting a refund has nothing to do with this £150 rebate. It's only just been decided upon and won't be applied until April. What you got was a refund on an old bill. A refund and a rebate aren't the same thing.

MsAgnesDiPesto · 10/02/2022 10:10

@SleepingStandingUp

Are they expected to go up that much? That would nearly double ours

You’re confusing monthly payments with the annual bill. The £150 will come off your annual total bill. You probably pay £150 a month - about £1500 a year. If your annual council tax bill rises by more than 10% this year then it would wipe out the £150 rebate from central government. I think in fact that the cap on rises this year is expected to be about 3% so you should, hopefully, still see some benefit.

poorbuthappy · 10/02/2022 10:11

@ilovemybeachhut

I'll be interested to see how this works. Ours is already £225pm.

Are you paying that for a band A-D dwelling?

SleepingStandingUp · 10/02/2022 10:31

@MsAgnesDiPesto yes sorry, thank you. Toddler brain

grlwhowrites · 10/02/2022 11:22

You can ask for it in cash but they don't make it easy. I moved house a few months ago and they didn't cancel my old council tax bill while simultaneously charging me for my new home. They owe me a refund and asked whether I'd like it in cash or off my bill. I obviously asked for the cash which they're apparently processing. It's been five weeks and still not a damn dime but you are allowed to request it as a cash refund.
I personally think they drag their heels and make it such a lengthy, stressful and difficult process in the hopes I just say "oh never mind, just knock it off my bill instead."

MsAgnesDiPesto · 10/02/2022 11:24

@grlwhowrites

You can ask for it in cash but they don't make it easy. I moved house a few months ago and they didn't cancel my old council tax bill while simultaneously charging me for my new home. They owe me a refund and asked whether I'd like it in cash or off my bill. I obviously asked for the cash which they're apparently processing. It's been five weeks and still not a damn dime but you are allowed to request it as a cash refund. I personally think they drag their heels and make it such a lengthy, stressful and difficult process in the hopes I just say "oh never mind, just knock it off my bill instead."

That’s a refund. Not a rebate. They were giving you back money you had already paid them. A rebate is an amount applied to your bill before you pay it and reduces the amount you owe before you start paying it.

This £150 will be a rebate. There’s nothing to give you back, because you haven’t paid the bill yet.

BuddhaForMary · 10/02/2022 11:27

A rebate is not the same as a refund. A refund is money you've overpaid that they owe you. A rebate reduces the bill and isn't payable to the customer, it's deducted from the entire bill to lower payments.

Daisyhoney · 10/02/2022 11:36

There's plenty of info about this online and from what I've read the councils will pay the £150 into your bank account ( for those who pay by direct debit as they have your details already ) in one sum in April. It doesn't come off your council tax bill.

pointythings · 10/02/2022 11:37

If you look at what other countries in the EU are doing to support their people through the cost of living crisis it just makes this government look like a joke.

DorothyZbornakIsAQueen · 10/02/2022 11:39

I read that if you pay by DD, £150 will be credited to your bank account in April

caringcarer · 10/02/2022 11:39

@poorbuthappy, mine too, you must be in band E so we won't get the £150 refund.

DorothyZbornakIsAQueen · 10/02/2022 11:41

From Money Saving Expert website:

If eligible you should expect to receive the £150 payment as a one-off in April
In most cases you DO NOT have to apply for the discount as your local authority will automatically recognise if you're eligible. But how you pay your council tax may affect how quickly you receive the rebate

For households that pay their council tax using a direct debit, your local authority will transfer the payment into your bank account using details already held on its system. The £150 payment is a one-off and non-repayable

For those who do not pay their council tax by direct debit, local authorities have been instructed to ask bill-payers for their bank account details so they can receive the £150 support

BuddhaForMary · 10/02/2022 11:41

@Daisyhoney I stand corrected! I've just been to my local council website and the details are sketchy but it does seem to indicate it will be paid into a bank account but doesn't say when or how, especially for those who don't pay by direct debit. It also says not to call and ask!

Troublesometooth · 10/02/2022 11:45

[quote caringcarer]@poorbuthappy, mine too, you must be in band E so we won't get the £150 refund.[/quote]
Band E here too. No idea why we don’t quality. We are a normal working class family with 2 children living in a small 4 bed house in the midlands. We pay £260 a month in council tax and I begrudge it every month!

poorbuthappy · 10/02/2022 12:37

To be honest it's not a rebate on your council tax. They've just used the council tax bands as a warped way to identify who they think are the most needy for some cash.
They are simply using the current infrastructure so they don't have to pay anymore to administer it.

OutlookStalking · 10/02/2022 12:54

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