Council Seeks To Re-Pay Council Tax Owed Back To Residents

Harborough District Council is encouraging anyone who thinks they are due a council tax refund to contact them.

It was revealed last week a total of more than £425,000 is owed to over 2,300 people who overpaid.

The council is keen to refund the money, but says it is often difficult to track down people due a refund, particularly if they have moved address.

Some have also not responded to communication about getting money back, fearing it maybe a scam.

Most of the money is believed to be owed to people who moved out of the area after already paying some or all of their bill.

Harborough District Council HQ in Market Harborough

A council spokesperson said: “Harborough District Council is part of the Leicestershire Revenues and Benefits Partnership which administers Council Tax, Business Rates, Council Tax Support and Housing Benefits on behalf of the authority and other constituent authorities.

“The partnership always seeks to return any owed money to residents, however, there are a number of reasons as to why this is sometimes difficult to achieve.

“A customer may no longer live at an address, may be in receipt of full benefit or the property may be exempt, however every effort is made to try and refund the overpayment.

“Another contributor to the value of the outstanding Council Tax credit for Harborough district is unclaimed Energy Rebate Payments. All residents received a voucher to claim this rebate; where a voucher was not cashed the amount has been credited to their council tax account. Residents had the option to refuse payment from the energy rebate scheme, and some may have exercised that option by refusing to claim the refund.”

“Where there is a credit on a resident’s account there is a clearly defined process that is followed to try and return the overpayment to them and to avoid fraud.

“There are frequent occasions when a resident doesn’t engage with the council as they are wary it might be a scam, they no longer wish to claim the credit or because they no longer reside at the address where the credit arose.

“If a resident calls and there is a credit on the account, either Customer Services or our Council Tax Team will make them aware of the credit and advise of how it can be reimbursed. But without contact from the resident we are unable to refund any credits.”

For self-help around how to claim a refund visit www.harborough.gov.uk/council-tax-refund