Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be pissed off we won’t get the £150 rebate

286 replies

Usererror1999 · 10/02/2022 22:06

I feel like the rebate is giving with one hand and taking with the other. But now I also realise that as we are in band E: we aren’t getting the rebate at all! So it’s just “take” from us. We already pay a higher amount of council tax and we aren’t high users of council services

We aren’t rich: but we do have a fairly decent house that we make other sacrifices to afford. We work hard and pay into a pension and pay off our mortgage in the hope that we’re fairly self sufficient in old age. This just feels like a bit of a slap in the face.

OP posts:
GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 11/02/2022 02:53

@TheMoth

Nothing said in Wales about a rebate. But our ct is going up 4%.

We moved into a bigger house, because our childcare bills have finally gone down. But we're going to be worse off than before, due to everything else. And no pay increase this year at all.

Do people in England pay extra for garden waste?

Depends on your council I think. We do here. £60 ish p a for a green bin. We just take it to the tip, but that’s not an option for anyone without a car.
Woahthehorsey · 11/02/2022 03:11

What bothers me is the banding is pretty arbitrary. We applied for rebanding as we're a G and the rest of the street is C or D. It's been G since they were introduced, despite it being the same as the others on the street. They won't reband it though as values have gone up and we now have a drive. They do admit it was incorrectly banded originally.

cuno · 11/02/2022 03:16

Oh my gosh OP, I was much nicer to you earlier but can't believe you've kept whinging about this into the early hours and now you're saying it's not nice of the government, 75% of the country is getting it but not poor you, it's making you personally worse off, people are on lower bands and rolling in money and still getting it. Oh boo fucking hoo. You're calling it a slap in the face? No, the slap in the face is for the people who can never even dream of owning their own home, earning minimum wage and relying on universal credit to be able to just make ends meet reading your posts whinging incessantly over one hundred and fifty fucking quid while you own a 200k house and have 55k household income. The government isn't giving out this money to prop up a nice lifestyle, it's meant to plug a gap to stop people from fucking starving or freezing to death. Even if it was means tested you wouldn't deserve a penny as far as I'm concerned, you hardly fucking need it! Let's face it OP, if the government included your council tax band you'd be happy as larry and not whinging about people with loads of money in cheap little houses taking all your tax money. Good grief!

ChefJones90 · 11/02/2022 03:27

You feel hard done by, try living here in Wales… no mention of a rebate

AutomaticMoon · 11/02/2022 03:34

[quote Usererror1999]@Monopolyiscrap it still needs to stretch to paying childcare, mortgage, bills and ahem. Council tax.[/quote]
You already said above that our of the 55k, 15k goes on taxes, including council tax.

AutomaticMoon · 11/02/2022 03:44

[quote Usererror1999]@Monopolyiscrap and there will be loads of other people who have houses worth more than ours, and have loads more disposable income who are getting the rebate and don’t need it either: that’s what’s pissing me off: hot people who have a choice between heating or eating[/quote]
Your thread title said you’re pissed off cause you’re not getting the rebate, even though you admit you also don’t need it. Very generous of you to not begrudge the people who actually need it.

ivykaty44 · 11/02/2022 03:47

E banding is not the middle D is the middle

If you don’t use council services much then perhaps get on to your local councillor to suggest that you’ll forgo old age services in the future - that’s where a very large percentage of council tax is spent. With care up to £1500 per week for one person

TeddyisMydog · 11/02/2022 05:42

I don't understand this comment, I'm in band E. In a 3 bedroom house, I have 4 children. Where exactly am I supposed to downsize to?

TeddyisMydog · 11/02/2022 05:44

@TeddyisMydog

I don't understand this comment, I'm in band E. In a 3 bedroom house, I have 4 children. Where exactly am I supposed to downsize to?
That was supposed to be to someone who said for those in band E to downsize. I also don't own the house, it is a council property.
motherrunner · 11/02/2022 06:05

I think this is a opportunity to reflect on what you have.

You said upthread you've been working from home for the past two years so no commute costs, maybe no childcare costs.

Posts like these will turn into a pity fest. I could moan I didn't receive furlough, had to work outside the home, being a teacher I have had one pay rise in 15 years so I actually earn less in real terms than I did when I was a NQT! My council tax has increased by 4.99% for 6 years every year.

But, I have a home and a job I (mainly) enjoy. I have healthy children. I'm not on the breadline and believe me as a council estate kid I know what poverty looks like. I am far from that now and it sounds like you are too.

Yes have a moan - we all do, but wallowing in unfairness will just make you bitter.

NeesAndToes · 11/02/2022 06:16

[quote Usererror1999]@NeesAndToes I was expecting another arguing post from you!!! I’m now disappointed 😂[/quote]
Ha! No I didn't realise how ridiculous the banding system was until I read this thread.

RedRobin100 · 11/02/2022 06:18

We all got £100 last year

Granted it was a different scheme but still

RedRobin100 · 11/02/2022 06:24

@Inspectorslack

Join the club.

No one in Northern Ireland is getting it.

Also, we pay rates rather than council tax, which is usually paid by property owners and not passed on to tenants as their responsibility. So a rebate scheme would be unfair and as unlikely to be received by a huge portion of the population. It would have to be another cash system paid out to every household - but can’t see that happening, particularly since we’re back in yet another political shit show
Wfhquery · 11/02/2022 06:31

I’m the opposite way round. Not super rich but just into higher rate tax living in band b. We could do with a bigger house but my sons autistic and I don’t know what the future hold re my being able to keep on working, him ever being able to work or live independently so we try and keep our outgoings low and save as much as possible for just in case. I don’t really need the £150 at this point but it’s just a very blunt tool of the government distributing the money rather than means assessing every household in the country which would prob double the costs of the scheme. You knew how the council tax system works as regards a higher value house being more when you moved in and that it’s not linked to the services you use. At the minute I am getting more services than I am paying in as son in special school and gets transport but I spent many years before this pre kids paying in more than I used. It’s just the way the system works. Maggie tried to change to poll tax in the early 90s and that caused riots

Kylereese · 11/02/2022 06:40

Honestly I know what you mean when you miss our on something it’s very frustrating. They took away the £250 kids investment thing just before I had kids. In 2010 when they froze council tax where I live the local council is all labour so ours still increased it by 3% every year whilst it was frozen most other places,…

It very frustrating

Dogsandbabies · 11/02/2022 06:42

@Usererror1999

It just seems irrational that only bands A-D are getting this rebate. Someone could earn £100k and live in a band D home, whereas someone else could earn £20k and live in a band E home
So your suggestion is that people who are sitting on wealth shouldn't be taxed? But people earning and already paying loads of tax should? I actually think the opposite. The UK is always squeezing earners and never actual wealth.
knittingaddict · 11/02/2022 06:44

@DorothyZbornakIsAQueen

People in higher council tax bands just round the corner from where we live, do get more council services.

They have an extra 'food' bin collection every week. So it's taken for composting or whatever.

Is there no extra service like that you get from your council tax?

Id pay £150 a year for that service, but I can't.

I have never heard of that. Are you in the UK?

I think we are band e. It's a modest 3 bed with 1 bathroom and a downstairs loo and a tiny garden. We get exactly the same service as everyone else and definitely no special perks for paying more council tax.

BobbleAlong · 11/02/2022 06:53

@Blossomtoeswe live in a house worth £200k. Many of the band Es in our area are worth around £200k. We earn pretty average salaries (joint salary of around £55k: so not loaded)

Even with your calculation that you only earn £27k Hmm and that being below average (which is not the case at all, the average UK salary is just under £26k BEFORE tax, student loans etc) you are still in a better position than A LOT of people.

A dual income of over £100k, a £200k House, you sound okay OP (other than sounding like a bit of a ....) And coming on MN to complain about not being given £150 is ridiculous.

I'm an educated full time employee. I'm also a single parent so have to favour flexibility over salary, and I earn less than the UK average.

knittingaddict · 11/02/2022 06:55

I should add that I don't begrudge others getting this rebate because many will need it much more than we do. My adult children for a start. However it is a blunt tool and lots of people in band e properties are going to be living in a degree of poverty and many in lower bands will be very comfortably off.

Bumpy23 · 11/02/2022 07:14

The thing that pisses me off about the rebate, is the complete lack of distributing funds to where they need it. So it's a complete waste. I'd rather Doris who is choosing between food or heating had £300 and I not have my £150.

Guess who's going to front the bill, tax payers. Ergh. Get a bloody parent of a big family in charge of this country, it'll be ship shape and running like clockwork in no time.

Chely · 11/02/2022 07:27

It seems like it's a crafty way to get more people on to the DD system.

Smallkeys · 11/02/2022 07:33

Jeez oh ok are you and the family going out to dinner or something anytime soon as if you do a cinema trip one day and dinner the next that’s £150 it’s £12.50 a month extra catch a grip. So what if it’s unfair with 40k disposable income be grateful and stop whinging that someone got it and you didn’t . We are not talking about a significant amount of money in your situation but it will be to some very hard working people on low wages. Is it fair that someone that doesn’t need it gets it no ! But if they messed about trying to means test the people that need it would be waiting and they need it now when it’s cold for heating etc . Honestly

ivykaty44 · 11/02/2022 07:35

Bumpy23 You can donate £150 to a local food bank, they are struggling with demand presently

LadyCatStark · 11/02/2022 07:37

@Dogsandbabies we rent our band E house so not sitting on any wealth at all…

SpaceDetective · 11/02/2022 07:39

I'm curious about what parts of the country have 200k Band E houses.