SODC Update on £150 Council Tax rebate

SODC has sent a note to town and parish councils about the £150 Council Tax rebate being made to help with utility bills for households in tax bands A-D

The note said that SODC is making rebate payments to households that pay their council tax by direct debit and will be sending a letter to all these homes to advise them to keep an eye out for the £150 ‘rebate’ going directly into their bank account.

SODC can only pay the money to someone’s bank account if they are the person responsible for paying council tax at the property and checks confirm that their application is valid.

Following checks, SODC expects to pay up to 68 per cent of households this way and should have completed these payments by the end of April.

From the start of May, SODC will send a separate letter to all remaining households (those not on not on direct debit, or whose bank account can’t be matched to council tax bill payer) asking them to complete an online form to confirm their bank account details.

Anyone who is not able to complete the form online will be able to confirm their details by calling a special customer service team who will be in place just to deal with rebate requests.

To ensure Capita can carry out this work as quickly as possible, SODC asks residents not to contact chase the ‘rebate’ payment.

Further information about the council tax ‘rebate’ can be found on the South website and on the government’s updated fact sheet.

Update on the discretionary support scheme 

SODC knows that those in council tax band properties E-H who are not eligible for the rebate will be keen to hear what funding will be made available to them via the discretionary support scheme.  The council will confirm more details about this scheme in the coming weeks.