The Council has been tasked by the Government to distribute the £150 Energy Rebates.
Main Scheme Eligibility
To be eligible to receive this rebate you must be the Council Tax payer for a property in Band A to D as at the 1 April 2022. (This includes Band E properties with a disabled band reduction to a Band D).
Also your property must -
- be occupied as a sole or main residence, and
- must be a chargeable dwelling, or be exempt from paying Council Tax for one of the following reasons -
- the property is occupied only by students
- the property is only occupied by people under 18
- the property is occupied by someone with a severe mental impairment
- the property is an occupied annex therefore not chargeable
If you do not fall into one of the categories above you are not eligible to apply through the Main Scheme. However you may be able to apply through our Discretionary Scheme.
Properties that are second homes and not the council tax payer’s sole or main residence, and unoccupied properties will not be eligible.
The band that your property is valued at is decided by the Valuation Office if you are unsure of your band check on the Valuation Office website. We are aware that the Valuation office have outstanding cases, however we are unable to make an award until the Band has been assigned.
We aim to process your online application within 14 working days. If you have provided a completed slip/letter, we aim to process these by the end of June 2022 at the latest. This is due to receiving an unprecedented amount of applications and correspondence and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Main Scheme Payments
There will only be one payment of £150 per household, they are not taxable and they will not affect your entitlement to any Welfare Benefits.
Eligible residents who -
- pay their Council Tax by Direct Debit - will automatically receive a £150 payment into the same bank account. You do not need to apply
- not pay their Council Tax by Direct Debit can either
- complete our Main Scheme online application form using the above blue button, or
- complete and return the paper slip on the letter you have received
If you have not received a letter, and believe you could be eligible, you can apply through the Discretionary Scheme.
We aim to process your online application within 14 working days. If you have provided a completed slip/letter, we aim to process these by the end of June 2022 at the latest. This is due to receiving an unprecedented amount of applications and correspondence and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
£150 Discretionary Energy Rebate Scheme
Local Authorities have been asked to establish a Discretionary Payment Scheme to assist those responsible for energy payments that do not qualify for the main £150 payment.
The Government has allocated Hull City Council (HCC) £769,200 to fund its discretionary scheme payments. The Council will close its discretionary scheme to new applications as soon as this funding has been exhausted.
HCC’s Discretionary Scheme meets with Government Guidance for the distribution of Energy Rebate Payments.
Discretionary Energy Rebate Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for this payment you must fall into one of the following categories:
- Those in Council Tax Bands E to H who are in receipt of Council Tax Support.
- New occupiers of properties in Bands A to D with effect from the 2nd April 2022 who have not received an energy payment for a previous address in the United Kingdom.
- Tenant(s) who live in in a property and are not liable to pay Council Tax but who -
- individually or jointly are responsible for paying energy bills directly to energy providers, or
- pay their energy costs within their rent to their landlord
Students who are in Halls of Residence are unlikely to be eligible for discretionary support, unless they are directly exposed to rising energy costs.
The Council will close its discretionary scheme to new applications as soon as funding has been exhausted.
If more than one person is named as being responsible on the energy bill, all named persons cannot apply for the rebate individually.
One person will be required to act on behalf of the residents and be responsible for gaining the signatures of those responsible and receive the £150 payment to pay towards the energy costs.
Additional Information
The Government leaflet can be viewed below -
Further guidance regarding the £150 Energy Bills rebate
Bank accounts will be subject to security checks to reduce fraud.
If your account is overdrawn you may wish to consider “first right of appropriation” which can prevent a payment received being used against by your bank an overdraft. Sample letters are available on the national debtline website.
If you do not pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit and you provide us with your bank account details, we will only use this information to make the Energy Rebate payment. The Government require us to keep information on the Energy Rebate payments made and this will be shared with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
If you do not pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit and do not provide us with any bank account details to the council by the 30 June 2022, we will make the payment to you by reducing your 2022-2023 Council Tax bill by £150. This will result in your remaining instalments being recalculated to reflect the reduced Council Tax due and a revised bill will be sent to you.
Where you have asked for the Energy Rebate payment to be paid into a third party’s account, we would undertake appropriate pre-payment checks in relation to the nominated individual, whilst ensuring the taxpayer isn’t under duress to nominate the third party. A record will be maintained of all such payments for future audit and assurance.
Disagreeing with a decision
If you disagree with a decision not to award an Energy Rebate payment, whilst there is no formal route of appeal, we understand that mistakes may happen or that you may have additional evidence available that could change a decision to refuse a payment.
If you disagree with a decision please email -
- for the Main scheme counciltaxenergyrebate@hullcc.gov.uk
- for the Discretionary scheme disenergyrebate@hullcc.gov.uk
Please include the following information in your email -
- the date the decision that you disagree with was made
- the reason why you disagree
- provide any further supporting evidence