Leeds City Council take money out of accounts after rebate error gaffe | Personal Finance | Finance

Leeds City Council was red-faced after the gaffe in the processing of council tax rebate payments meant some 25,000 people received double the £150 rebate they were owed. Now the authority, controlled by the Labour Party, wants to recover the cash and take it out of the accounts.

But residents across the city of around 800,000 people have expressed their confusion at how such an error could occur.

 “You don’t process anything right,” wrote one woman on Facebook.

Another resident posted: “…and these people are in charge of our finances!!!”

A third stated: “The first payment would be nice never mind second one.”

The council posted an apology on Facebook, Leeds Live reports.

In the statement, the council said: “We are aware that a significant number (25,000) of council tax rebate payments have been duplicated, meaning some residents have received the payment twice.

“This is due to a process error where the same payment file was incorrectly processed twice after it was initially rejected by the bank. We are working with our bank to recover the duplicate payments so that the situation can be rectified as soon as possible.

“We would advise residents to check relevant accounts and bear in mind that duplicate payments will be recovered.

“We would like to apologise for any confusion or inconvenience the duplicate payments may have caused. Our officers have worked hard to ensure residents receive the £150 rebate as quickly as possible, and 120,000 payments have been made correctly.”