On 3 February 2022 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that an energy bills rebate payment (ERP) will be provided to households in England to help protect them from rising energy costs. This includes a £150 payment for most households in council tax bands A-D. Almost 90% of Amber Valley properties are A-D, so the numbers we will have to process will be around 52,000.
The government’s description as a "council tax rebate" is misleading. It should more accurately be described as a "£150 payment using council tax records and based on council tax bands". The £150 will not reduce your council tax liability and you should continue to pay your bill as normal. It is intended that the £150 payments will be made direct to bank accounts as soon as possible.
As we are still finalising the scheme and application form, we ask that residents do not contact us at this stage as we do not have the resources to respond. However, please rest assured that once the scheme is updated we will continue to update this webpage with further information.
The £150 will be payable to households in bands A-D in England that are liable for council tax on 1 April 2022. This will include occupiers whose bill is £0 due to an existing award of council tax support, and to certain exempt dwellings (where the occupier is exempt, not if the property is unoccupied).
Only one £150 payment should be made per household, regardless of the number of occupants or liable council tax payers.
The £150 will not be payable in respect of empty / unoccupied properties or second homes.
The £150 will not be payable when the person liable to pay the council tax (or would be were the property not exempt) is a local authority, a corporate body or other body such as a housing association, the government or governmental body.
To qualify for the payment, the property occupied must meet these conditions, on 1 April 2022:
Direct debit payers
We have now extracted data from our council tax system to enable £150 payments to be paid automatically in to the bank accounts of those people who qualify for the £150 and who currently pay their council tax by direct debit.
This data (some 36,000 bank accounts) was extracted at the end of the working day on Wednesday 20 April 2022 and payments have been paid into bank accounts.
Payments arriving in bank accounts will simply say "AMBER VALLEY".
Non-direct debit payers
If you were not already set up to pay your council tax by direct debit on 20 April 2022 you will not receive the £150 payment automatically. You will need to complete our online form when it becomes available.
You will need to provide your bank details, to enable us to make your £150 payment, by completing an online application form on our website. We are aiming to have this online form available from the end of May 2022.
We will aim to process these payments within 6-8 weeks after validating your application.
For those who need help with their energy bills but are not eligible for the £150 government rebate, local authorities will receive a proportion of £144 million of discretionary funding to fund £150 payments to vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes who are liable for council tax for properties in bands E-H.
To apply you must:
We will update this page on how to apply for an energy bills rebate discretionary payment (ERD) once we have finalised all the details.
Further Information on the £150 payments and discretionary fund will be available as soon as possible. As we are still finalising the scheme and application form, we ask that residents do not contact us at this stage as we do not have the resources to respond. However, please rest assured that once the scheme is updated we will continue to update this webpage with further information.
Residents are warned to be on their guard against telephone or email scammers offering this energy bills rebate.
You should never give out personal details over the phone or by email, and the council will never ask you to do this for the £150 payment. If you have received a call or email about this scheme and have any doubts, you should ring the council on 01773 570222. You can report this crime by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.
Contact the team directly on 01773 570222 or email enquiry@ambervalley.gov.uk
