BLACKBURN with Darwen, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale Councils have completed paying the council tax energy rebate to residents who pay by direct debit, but some households in other areas are still waiting.

Some people in Burnley and Hyndburn who pay online have not had their £150 rebate yet.

The two authorities have said they have started the process and hope to complete it by the end of the month.

The rebate, to help with rising costs of energy, which went up by almost £700 in April, is available for all households in council tax bands A to D.

Those who pay by direct debit automatically receive their payment into their bank account while those that do not will get a letter or email outlining how to apply.

Blackburn with Darwen finance boss, Councillor Vicky McGurk, said: “After successfully making the rebate payment to over 36,000 direct debit payers in the borough, the council has now started asking those who do not pay by direct debit to supply their details.

“We are really pleased to be one of the first councils in the area to get this much-needed payment to our residents and we are working hard on the next phase of payments.

"There is no need for residents to contact the council as letters and emails will be issued directly to all eligible households over the next six weeks.

“There are some council tax rebate scams out there at the moment which try to take money from your bank account."

A Burnley Council spokesperson said: "Payments have commenced.

"We expect all 25,000 households who pay by direct debit to receive their rebate between the end of this week and the middle of next.

"We have contacted the remaining 16,000 households who make payments other than by direct debit asking them for their payment details, of which 5,800 have replied so far."

A Hyndburn Council spokesperson said: "The issuing of rebates has started this week.

"The council anticipate that council tax rebate payments to all eligible households with a live direct debit instruction that satisfy the criteria will be processed by Friday, May 20.

"The council are currently developing the application form for households that do not have a direct debit instruction."

A spokesperson for Ribble Valley Borough Council added: “We have now paid the £150 energy rebate to nearly all of our direct debit council taxpayers and aim to open online applications for the remaining eligible council taxpayers later this month.”

 

Pendle Council's chief executive, Rose Rouse, said: "We have this week processed £3 million of payments to more than 21,000 households who pay their council tax by direct debit.

"Letters and emails have gone out to residents for whom we don’t have bank details.”

A Rossendale Council spokesperson added: "We have already paid the rebate to to direct debit users.

"This was done on May 3 and I believe we were one of the first seven councils in the country to do so.

"We are currently in the process of finalising the software to process the households who don't pay by direct debit."