Rotherham residents urged to cash £150 energy rebate cheques before deadline

More than 108,000 of the Government-funded payments have been made to homes that fall within Council Tax bands A-D – 75,667 to direct debit payers direct into their bank account and 32,366 by cheque.

Rotherham Council is among the first local authorities in the country to complete payments to all eligible households.

More than 81 per cent of cheques issued had been cashed as of July 6.

Cheques must be cashed by September 9, 2022 – If cheques aren’t cashed by this date the council will deduct the payment amount from any outstanding council tax arrears.

Anyone in receipt of a cheque payment who doesn’t have a bank account can contact the council to make arrangements to be paid in cash. There is no charge for this service.

And anyone who is unable to cash the cheque because they are housebound should contact the council to arrange an alternative method of payment, again without charge.

Councillor Saghir Alam, cabinet member for corporate services, community safety and finance at Rotherham Council, said: “We want to see every penny of financial support provided by the Government helping Rotherham residents immediately so we are encouraging those 6,000 or so people who have received payment by cheque to cash it as soon as possible.

“I would urge anyone who has received a cheque but is unable to bank or cash it for good reason to contact us so that we can make alternative arrangements to suit them.

“I’d also encourage anyone who is struggling with the spiralling cost of living to look into the additional local financial assistance the council has in place to help hard pressed Rotherham residents. Full details are on our website www.rotherham.gov.uk/council-tax-benefits .”

The Government also provided the council with £615,000 in funding for discretionary support for energy bills, to be targeted at households in council tax bands E to H.

The council opted to allocate this funding equally, with 7,155 payments of £90 per household all now distributed, either direct into bank accounts or by cheque.