Thousands of energy bill rebate payments made
Thousands of households across Dudley borough have now received their £150 energy bill rebate, with further payments reaching bank accounts this week.
The government initiative to help households with rising energy costs will see most households in council tax bands A-D receive a one-off non repayable rebate.
The first round of payments has been made by Dudley Council to more than 43,000 households who paid their first council tax instalment by direct debit on April 6.
A further 42,000 residents, whose first direct debit instalment was on April 28, will start to receive the rebate in their bank accounts during this week.
The council is also writing to 41,000 residents who do not pay their council tax by direct debit, or hadn’t set up payments in time for April, with details on how to complete an online application.
Residents who pay by direct debit, but whose name on the bank account does not match the person named on the bill, will also be written to and provided with details of how to apply online.
Councillor Patrick Harley, leader elect of Dudley Council, said:
We have been working through the process as quickly as possible to get the rebate to residents as soon as we can.
We’ve completed payments to more than half of those who pay their council tax by direct debit and payments to the remainder will be starting this week.
Anyone who doesn’t pay by direct debit is being written to with details of how to apply for the rebate online.
There are concerns nationally that fraudsters are using the energy bill rebate to scam personal information out of people and, while there have been no reports of this in the borough, residents are reminded to be careful about who they give their personal information to.
Councillor Harley added:
During the council tax rebate application process, the council will never contact residents by email, phone or text to ask for personal or bank details.
If you are contacted by anyone asking for your personal or bank details to process the payment, please do not engage with them and report it to our scams unit immediately.
For further information about the rebate visit www.dudley.gov.uk/residents/council-tax/council-tax-rebate/
If anyone is concerned that they or someone they know may have fallen victim to scams, they should contact the scams unit on 01384 818871 or via trading.standards@dudley.gov.uk