Further delays in £150 council tax rebate payment for some Lancaster & Morecambe residents

On Friday, Lancaster City Council said they were beginning to pay out £150 rebates and that this was the first batch of payments for those in council tax bands A to D who have already paid a council tax direct debit payment to the council.

They said all the payments had gone out to people who didn't have mismatched information on their council tax bill and bank account.

One council tax payer from Morecambe said: “Two council tax bill payments have gone out of my account by direct debit yet I still haven’t received my £150 council tax rebate. I know of other people who still haven’t received their £150 council tax rebate as well. If they can take payments out of my account, surely they can put payments in without any issue? I’ve had no contact from the council saying I need to provide additional information in order to get the rebate.”

A spokesman for Lancaster City Council said: “Due to the checks required by the Government to prevent fraud, it has only been possible to make payments where the name on the bank account details that we hold match the name of the person on the council tax bill.

“Additional checks are required where the names do not match, for example where someone has changed their surname but not updated either their bank account or council tax details.

"Where there is a mismatch, for example where the name on the bank account doesn’t match the council tax details, payments will take longer to be made whilst checks are made.

"Where there are no mis-matches, payments to those eligible for the rebate (and who have already made monthly payments by direct debit towards their 2022/23 bill) have been made.

"If you weren’t included in the first batch of payments please bear with us and we will endeavour to make your payment as soon as possible.

"There is no requirement to contact the council tax department about this issue.”