Built to make the announcement easier to understand

Finding a band is one task. Understanding whether it fits an announcement, what remains uncertain and how to avoid a scam are others. This website connects those questions without making you create an account.

We use British English and explain uncertainty directly. The checker is an information tool. It cannot access a council account, assess legal entitlement, process a claim or authorise a payment.

Who runs this guide

Energy Payment Checker is an independent publication with no connection to any government, council or energy supplier. We do not take payment from anyone named in this guide.

How we research and check information

  • Primary sources first. Rules come from GOV.UK, the devolved governments and councils. News reports are only used to find primary sources, never as the source of a rule.
  • Confirmed and pending kept apart. Every rule is marked as confirmed, announced or pending, and the checker cannot give a “likely eligible” result unless the rule it relies on is confirmed.
  • Figures you can check. Council Tax amounts come from the MHCLG statistics release or the council’s own published charges, with a link on every page. Where we calculate something — a monthly figure, a comparison — we say so.
  • Dated. Each page shows when its sources were last checked. When official guidance changes we update the rules file, the checker and every affected page together.

Update log

  • 29 October 2026: updated to GOV.UK’s 28 October guidance — the payment goes to the person liable for Council Tax on their main home, Direct Debit payers are paid automatically and others will be invited to apply; added the £100 million fund for bands E–H, council-by-council 2026/27 charges, a tenant guide and the Council Tax calculator.

Spotted something out of date? See help and contact.

An independent guide

We are not part of the UK Government, a devolved government, a council or an energy supplier. We do not use government branding or imply official approval.

Our source ledger records the material behind the guidance. Government and council instructions take precedence over this website.

No personal details needed

The checker asks only for your part of the UK, a band and whether you are named on the bill. It does not ask for a postcode, address, income, bank details or identification. Answers stay within the current page and disappear when it is reloaded.

Read the privacy policy and source ledger for more detail.