Thousands face cost of living £150 rebate delays

THOUSANDS of households across Halton face delays in receiving a £150 rebate to help with the cost of living crisis because they have yet to provide their bank details.

In February the Chancellor announced the council tax rebates as part of the government response to the impact of rising energy costs on hard-pressed households.

The £150 rebate was due to be paid by each individual council directly into the bank accounts of anyone who paid their council tax by direct debit and lived in band A to D properties.

But those households who do not pay by direct debit were urged to provide their bank details so it could be paid in.

A council spokesman said that 30,000 rebates have now been paid, with another 12,000 due to hit bank accounts this week, which is 79% of eligible households.

The payments include households on direct debit and those the council has written to inviting them to submit their bank details via its secure portal.

But of the 15,000 households the council has so far written to, 6,000 have still to provide their bank details.

A council spokesman, said: “If you have received a letter inviting you to provide your bank details, we would urge you to provide these as soon as possible to enable us to make your payment.

“If you have not yet received a letter we will write to you in the near future.

“If you pay by direct debit or have provided your bank details via our secure portal and have not yet received your energy rebate, please bear with us, as all bank details provided have to be authorised via the government’s verification tool and we will be shortly contacting those households who failed the verification process.”