A council has apologised after £150 in energy bill rebates was mistakenly taken from residents’ bank accounts instead of from the government. Energy bill rebates are being paid from April to September this year as part of efforts to help with the cost of living.
Swale Borough Council posted on its Facebook page yesterday morning (May 4) that a serious error had taken place, Kent Live reports. It subsequently rushed to credit those accounts that the money was mistakenly taken from.
However, for some victims of the mistake, this might not be quite enough, as the payment could take a “few days” to appear in their accounts. This could mean that those affected by the problem will be overdrawn and be hit with bank charges.
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The council said: "People who are eligible for the Government's energy rebate payments will see both a debit and a credit on their bank account today due to an error processing the planned payments. We are deeply sorry that this has happened, and we have been working to rectify the situation and make sure people's accounts are in a neutral position.
"If you are worried, please check with your bank to confirm both a debit and credit has been made to your account. The planned £150 rebate is being reprocessed today and should be in people's accounts in the next few days."
The council then added in an update: "We're hearing people say they have received the £150 credit, but not been debited yet. When the payments/credits appear can depend on your bank, so we want people to be know to expect a debit from their account at some point today."
