Huge numbers of people will not get £150 off their council tax this year, including some renters, people in hospital and members of the Armed Forces.
The £150 council tax rebate was announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in his Spring Statement last month, and is meant to help households with the cost of living crisis .
All households in England that are in council tax bands A, B, C or D will get £150 off their council tax bills for one year, from this month.
The government says this covers around 80% of all the households in the country.
But the system is confusing, and some homes will be disappointed to find that they will not be in line for the £150 windfall.
Some groups of people who don't pay council tax will get the £150, but others will not - and some people who do pay council tax will get it while others won't.
There are two things to explain with council tax here - bands and classes.
Council tax bands are applied to properties, and the different bands are used to work out how much council tax they pay.
Council tax classes are exemptions - for example, a house of full-time students is 'class N', meaning the residents pay no council tax at all.
Anyone who lives in a property in council tax bands A to D will get the £150 rebate if they pay council tax.
That applies even if they don't pay full council tax - for example, people living alone get a 25% reduction.
Many groups of people are exempt from paying council tax, either partly or completely.
These include a house of full-time students (class N), those under the age of 18 (class S), people with a severe mental health impairment (class U) and people living in annexes with a dependent relative (class W)/
All these groups should still get the £150 rebate, even though they pay no council tax.
But there are fears that the way the system works is leaving many homes without the much-needed £150 windfall.
The following groups will not be getting the payment - or will get it late.
Those paying council tax by direct debit
Payments will be made automatically to people who pay their council tax by direct debit, because local authorities already have their bank details.
Councils have been told to contact people who do not pay their bills this way to make sure they don't miss out.
But fears have been raised that this could mean delays to payments for people not on direct debit schemes.
The government has ordered local authorities to ensure people get their rebate by September 30 2022 - months after it was initially supposed to be received.
If you don’t apply by direct debit, then you may need to manually apply for the rebate through your local authority.
People in council tax bands E to H
Around 20% of the population - 4.3million homes - are in council tax bands E to H and will get no £150 rebate.
Many will be wealthy already, but the charity Age UK has warned that millions of older people will miss out too, despite struggling with financial hardship.
Older people often live in homes that are difficult and expensive to heat, leaving them at greater risk of developing health complications because of the cold.
The charity estimates around 2.1million of the homes in council tax bands E to H include at least one person aged 60+.
People with no current account
Around 400,000 people who don't have a current account are also currently unable to get the £150 rebate.
The Levelling Up Committee has asked local councils to investigate if £150 can be paid out in cash instead.
Armed Forces accommodation
Members of the forces and their spouses living in subsidised accommodation will not get the £150 rebate.
This group are normally exempt from council tax due to being in class O.
But unlike other groups of people exempt from council tax, Armed Forces members will not get the £150 windfall.
Instead, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will contact them about cost of living support.
Last week the Labour shadow defence secretary John Healey criticised the MOD for doing “too little to help” with the cost of living crisis.
People who have moved into hospitals or care homes
If you own a property but have moved into a care home or hospital you will not get the £150 rebate.
People in this group are classed as class E when it comes to paying council tax - meaning they are exempt.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: "People who have moved permanently into a care home or hospital but still own a property (Class E) will not be eligible for the rebate, because their home is unoccupied.
"However, they may be able to apply for support from their local council’s discretionary fund if they are directly exposed to rising energy bills."
People in an HMO
Many renters who live in a house of multiple occupation (HMO) don't pay council tax, as their landlord does instead.
But neither HMO tenants nor their landlord will get the rebate.
Government guidance says: "The rebate is available to people who live in an eligible property for which they are liable for council tax.
"It will not therefore be paid to residents of an HMO where the landlord is liable for the council tax bill. If the tenants of an HMO pay energy bills directly, they may be able to access support from their council’s discretionary fund."
