Council Tax Energy Rebate - £150 payment
Update
Earlier this year Haringey Council sent a voucher for £150 to help with energy bills to households in Council Tax bands A to D. Most people have cashed their vouchers, but if you have not, we will pay the £150 onto your council tax account.
If your Council Tax Band is E to H, or you don’t pay council tax, you can still get a payment of £150 in some circumstances. See 'Discretionary Scheme' below for more information.
Eligible households in Council Tax properties bands A to D will be paid £150 to help with the rising cost of energy. You don't need to pay this money back.
If you had a Direct Debit set up to pay your Council Tax in April, we would have credited your bank account with £150. If this payment is not received, it means there was an exception with your account and we will issue you with a £150 Post Office voucher instead.
If you do not pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit, you should have received a £150 voucher that you can cash at any UK Post Office. All vouchers have now been issued. If you haven't received your voucher yet, please email energyrebate@haringey.gov.uk stating your council tax account number.
Who is eligible
To qualify:
- you must be in Council Tax bands A to D
- you must be living in the property on 1 April 2022
- the property must be your sole or main residence
You can check which band your home is in via GOV.UK:
Households who do not pay Council Tax because they get full Council Tax support or some Council Tax exemptions will also qualify.
The rebate is not payable for empty properties and second homes.
Non Direct Debit payers - residents who do not pay council tax by direct debit
Update: please note all vouchers have now been issued to residents who are not direct debit payers. If you still haven't received your energy rebate payment or voucher, please email energyrebate@haringey.gov.uk stating your council tax number.
If you don’t pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit, you should have received a voucher for £150 that you can cash at any Post Office. Please make sure to cash your voucher as soon as it's possible.
Residents received the vouchers based on their check digit (your check digit is the last digit on your account number). Check digits range from 0-9 and some have an X, the vouchers were issued in numerical order.
All vouchers have now been posted in the following order:
- XXXXXXXXXX0 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX1 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX2 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX3 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX4 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX5 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX6 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX7 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX8 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXX9 - issued
- XXXXXXXXXXX - issued
If you’re unsure of your council tax account number, please check your latest council tax bill where the account number can be found on the right-hand side, under the property address.
Payment to your bank account
If you are unable to cash your voucher in at the Post Office, you can choose to have the money paid to your bank account. We always encourage residents to cash their vouchers in as the bank payment may take up to 2 weeks to be processed.
If you do take your voucher to the Post Office, you will be able to ask for £150 in cash or request for the money to be paid into your bank account if you bring your bank card at the time of exchange of the voucher.
If you still prefer to receive this payment via bank payment, you will have to put in a request within 3 months of receipt of your letter from us. To request a bank payment, please email energyrebate@haringey.gov.uk and include the following information:
- Your full name (as it appears on your council tax bill)
- Your council tax account number
- Your property address
We will ask you to agree to a credit reference agency check to confirm your identity and bank details.
Beware of scams
Residents are being urged to look out for scam calls related to the £150 energy rebate. Fraudsters are reportedly calling people to ask for bank details, pretending to be from the council, but please note that the council will never call you to ask for your bank details. If someone does ask you for any personal details such as bank details, hang up immediately.
Residents who pay their council tax by direct debit, received the payment into the account that is used to pay their Council Tax, therefore we do not require your bank details.
Residents who do not pay council tax by direct debit, received a Post Office voucher in the post.
Discretionary Scheme
The Discretionary Scheme is designed to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes, who pay Council Tax for properties in Bands E to H, or who do not pay Council Tax.
Payments will be made as one-off grants of £150 to households eligible under the criteria set out below.
Eligible residents will receive a letter with more information, including a Post Office voucher that can be cashed in at any UK Post Office. Please note that the vouchers will need to be cashed in within 3 months of receiving the letter.
Eligibility criteria
£150 payment will be paid via Post Office voucher to residents who:
Base criteria:
- Live in properties bands E-H and it’s their sole or main residence - and meet one of the following criteria
Additional criteria:
- Person is in receipt of Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS) - payment to these residents has been issued
- Person is a care leaver - payment to these residents has been issued
- The property is an exempt dwelling in the classes N, S, U, W
- The property has a disability reduction - payment to these residents has been issued
Where the liable person meets the base criteria and at least one element of the additional criteria set out above, they will automatically be eligible for the £150 Discretionary Energy Payment, which will be paid by cash voucher.
Making a claim if you have not received Energy Rebate payment:
Some residents were not eligible to receive an automatic Energy Rebate payment - however, they are still able to claim to receive the rebate payment.
Currently, we are accepting enquiries from residents that:
- moved into a property on 2 April 2022 onwards - scheme 3
- that live in a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) - scheme 4
Please register on the Haringey Grant Approval website (external link) to complete your claim and we will contact you if we require any further information.
More information and help
Your questions answered
- Is the energy rebate payment a loan and do I have to pay it back?
No, the £150 energy rebate is a payment to you to spend on energy costs - Can I still get the payment if I pay £0 on my Council Tax?
As long as you get a Council Tax bill in your name and your property is in Band A-D you will get a payment, even if you have no Council Tax to pay. If you don’t have a Council Tax bill because your landlord pays it, but you do have an electricity meter you can claim a discretionary rebate - If someone calls me about the rebate, is it a scam?
Please be careful. This scheme has been set by the UK Government and it is there to help people with their energy costs. We will either pay you direct to your bank account or send you a voucher to exchange for cash in the post office. We will NEVER ring you to ask for your bank details. If someone rings you to ask for your bank details, then it is a scam - What if you don't pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit?
You will get the money anyway. Eligible residents should have received their voucher, which you can cash in at any UK Post Office. You will need to take your voucher and your ID, or you can ask for a bank payment instead - I pay my Council Tax via Direct Debit but I still haven't received my payment. What do I do?
If you are eligible for the energy rebate and pay your council tax by direct debit but you have not received your payment, please check the following before contacting us:- That a name on the Council Tax bill matches the name on the bank account that Council Tax is paid from
- Please check with the person that uses their bank account to pay for Council Tax if they have received the payment
- If the Council Tax bill is in multiple names, only the person that pays the Council Tax from their bank account will receive the £150 payment, for example:
- Mr Joe Bloggs and Mrs Jo Bloggs are married and are named on the Council Tax bill
- Mrs Jo Bloggs pays the Council Tax from her own current account
- Mrs Jo Bloggs will receive the £150 payment back into her account
- Can I receive the rebate if I have no recourse to public funds?
Yes. The Council Tax rebate (as part of the Energy Rebate Scheme 2022) is excluded from being considered a public fund under paragraph 6.2(i) of the Immigration Rules (external link). This means that it is available to people who have no recourse to public funds, other than those who do not have leave to enter or remain in the UK and fall within one of the cohorts listed under Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (external link) - My property is in Band E-H and I received a letter with a voucher for £150. Is this correct?
As part of the Discretionary Scheme, you may be eligible for the energy rebate payment. You will need to meet the base criteria and at least one of the additional criteria. To find out more, please see the Discretionary Scheme section above
Contact us
If you have any queries relating to the energy rebate, including post office vouchers and the discretionary scheme, please email us on energyrebate@haringey.gov.uk stating your full name (as it appears on your council tax bill) and your council tax account number.
Please note we are receiving a high volume of enquiries during this time so please allow at least 5 working days for us to respond to your query.
More information
Find out more about the energy rebate scheme:
- Government support for energy bills and the cost of living - factsheets (external link)
- Council Tax rebate: factsheet (external link)
More help
- Haringey, Here to Help - help and support including benefits and financial help, employment, housing and mental health
- Council Tax Reduction Scheme - a scheme that can help residents on low incomes with Council Tax costs
- Haringey Support Fund - a scheme that can help with the costs of basic living needs such as food, and gas and electricity reconnection
- Helping you stay warm - help and support available to help with the rising costs of energy and utility bills