Luton council tax payers will start to see £150 rebates from this week

£150 rebates will be paid out to most council tax payers

As part of the government funded scheme, most Luton households that live in a band A to D property as their main home will receive a one-off payment of £150. One payment will be made per household.

After setting up and testing a new system which was required to process the payments, more than 33,000 £150 rebates were processed on Monday and will be reaching residents’ bank accounts this week. Although it should be noted that it takes longer for payments to reach certain types of bank account.

A council spokesman said: “The council is still working through and processing a small number of additional households signed up to Direct Debit payments who were not on the initial run and these will be processed as soon as possible.

“Where we have been unable to verify bank details, residents will need to apply for their rebate online at www.luton.gov.uk/counciltaxrebate”.

There have been concerns raised about those who do not pay by direct debit. Under the council scheme eligible Band A-D households who don’t pay their Council Tax by Direct Debit will be sent a letter shortly which will direct them to a form where they can apply for their rebate. These households don’t have to wait for the letter and can go online now and apply at www.luton.gov.uk/counciltaxrebate.

Applications for the energy rebate are open until 1 July 2022. If any household does not apply before this date, the council will automatically credit their Council Tax account with the £150 rebate at the end of July 2022 and a new council tax bill for a lower amount will be issued.

Cllr Andy Malcolm, portfolio holder for finance, said: “I would like to thank residents for their patience as we had to quickly develop a new internal system which was compatible with our existing processes to be able to process these important payments to help out with rising energy prices in the most efficient and effective way.”

Full guidance and eligibility can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/council-tax-rebate-factsheet