Martin Lewis issues council tax scam warning to anyone waiting for a £150 rebate

19 April 2022, 13:22

Martin Lewis warns of 'epidemic of scams'

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has issued a scam warning to households who are expecting to get the £150 council tax rebate.

An urgent warning has been issued to anyone who is waiting for a £150 council tax rebate.

Millions of people who live in homes which fall under bands A-D have been given a sum of money from the government to help with the cost of living crisis.

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If you are eligible and pay by direct debit, the money should have been in your account from April 1.

Those who don’t pay by direct debit were told to contact their local council to find out how and when their money would be paid.

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Money Saving Expert, which is the website run by Martin Lewis, has warned that fraudsters are using the scheme to target vulnerable people.

The website states: "Households should beware cold callers asking for their bank account details in order to seemingly pay them the Government’s £150 council tax rebate, as it’s likely to be a scam.”

A number of councils have also told their residents to be aware of the scam phone calls, with Durham Council writing on Twitter: "Please don’t give your bank details to anyone who calls you about the national council tax rebate scheme.

"We’re aware of a scam but we will not ask for your details as part of this process."

As a rule of thumb, your council will never ask for your bank details over the phone and if you pay by direct debit customer, your local council will usually already have your bank details.

Around 80% of UK households are eligible for the council tax refund, which was supposed to help with rising energy costs.

A lot of this will be used to pay for the rising council tax costs, with the average Band A bill rising to £1,310, Band B to £1,529 and Band C to £1,747 a year.

But the average 3.5% rise is actually below last year’s increase, which was 4.4%, and is also the lowest year-on-year rise since 2016.