Bristol City Council is urging residents to apply for their £150 council tax rebate if they have not already received it. The rebate, which is being paid to all households in council tax bands A - D, is now being rolled out, the council said.
Just over half of eligible properties should have received their payments, the council says. A spokesperson added: "We are asking for all other households to provide us with payment details via an online form to ensure prompt payment.
"This includes households who pay by direct debit but where the payment details differ from the details of the account holder, or anyone who pays their council tax by any means other than direct debit. Some households exempt from paying council tax but eligible for the rebate will also need to provide these details."
Read more: £150 council tax rebate branded a 'postcode lottery' as families continue to miss out
The spokesperson added that "the online form for providing these details will be launched very shortly". The council's dedicated web page says it will host the form when it is live.
Around 180,000 Bristol properties fall into bands A - D, but not all of these will be eligible: second homes and empty properties will not receive the money. Bristol City Council says "over 96,500" of eligible properties should have already received their rebates, including "all eligible households who we have payments details for and can be paid now".
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, announced the £150 rebate in February, saying it would be paid "in April". He said at the time: "We are going to give people a £150 council tax rebate to help with the cost of energy in April, and this discount will not need to be repaid."
By March he had softened his language, saying: "Households in England will receive £150 starting this April." The government provided the money to councils at the end of March, but many of them, including Bristol City Council, had to build or source entire new systems from scratch in order to process the payments out to residents.
Earlier this week, Matthew Pennycook, Labour's shadow minister for housing and planning, defended councils and laid the blame for the delays at the government's door. He said: "Councils have attracted a fair amount of implicit criticism this morning about their handling of the council tax rebate but it was entirely the government's choice to disperse support in this most complicated of ways. Most councils [are] doing a sterling job under extreme pressure."
The rebate is separate to the £200 coming off energy bills in October. That money will need to be repaid, in five instalments of £40 each, over the next five years.
Are you still waiting for your council tax rebate? Get in touch by emailing oscar.dayus@reachplc.com.
