Millions may ‘miss out’ on £150 council tax rebate

COUNCILS have been urged to scrap their July 31 deadline for claiming the Government’s council tax rebate.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance has said the deadline should be extended due the “hideously complex” rules on how to claim the payment, which is intended to help households battling the cost of living crisis. Councils have been accused of applying “hideously complex” rules to the claims process and millions may miss out on immediate payment of the £150 subsidy if they fail to claim by the end of the month. Householders who do not pay their council tax bills by direct debit do have the money credited to their bank accounts and have struggled with a complex manual claims system.

Councils, including Bath and North East Somerset, Brent and Birmingham, have told households they will not be handed the money directly if they do not claim by the end of the month but each council has its own rules.

Morgan Wild, of Citizens Advice, said the way the system had been set up had led to “inevitable confusion and delays and, most crucially, people desperately in need not getting the support they’re entitled to”. In some areas up to a third of residents are yet to make a claim.

Danielle Boxhall, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, described the set up as “hideously complex”. “In the middle of a cost of living crisis, the last thing struggling households need are reams of red tape. The process should have been simplified from the outset,” she said, as she called for the deadline for applications to be extended.

Guildford Borough Council said one in three council tax payers eligible for cash had failed to submit a claim at the end of June. Those who typically pay by cheque or via PayPoint were told to apply for the £150 grant online.

In the neighbouring local authority of Waverly, residents have been sent letters containing a QR code to scan with their smartphones or enter into a search engine in order to access an online application form.

Meanwhile, councils such as London Southwark and Lambeth in London, Bury in Greater Manchester and Calderdale in West Yorkshire, have asked residents to claim the cash at a post office.

Households should have received the money at the in the spring. A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents more than 350 councils in England and Wales, said councils had been “working hard,” but the scheme had “been a significant task and not without its challenges”.