Your Business Rates bill
At the start of each financial year, we will send a Business Rates bill to everybody who is shown on the Non-Domestic Rating records as being responsible for payment.
We will send you a bill which shows the net amount due after deduction of any amounts you may be entitled to in respect of:
- Transitional Relief
- Mandatory Rate Relief
- Discretionary Rate Relief
- Village Shop Relief
- Small Business Relief
We will amend the Non-Domestic Rating records where a change in liability occurs and issue an amended bill to you, normally within 14 days of receiving the relevant information.
Each bill will allow payment to be made by monthly instalments and at least 14 days will be allowed before the first instalment is due.
If you disagree with the bill which has been sent, we can be contacted to discuss what you object to and why. If your grievance is about a Valuation matter and you intend to follow the appeals procedure to the Valuation Tribunal, you will still be expected to pay the instalments as and when they become due.
If you have difficulty in paying
When you receive your bill, if you think you will have difficulty in paying your instalments, we can be contacted to discuss an alternative arrangement for payment.
If you do not pay your instalments as they become due, we will send you a Reminder Notice to advise you of the amount of arrears. If you bring your payments up to date within 7 days, you will be allowed to continue paying by instalments. However, if your instalments are not brought up to date, the full balance on your account will become payable and we can take Court action to enforce payment of the debt.
In circumstances where your payments have been brought up to date but you later miss an instalment, you will be sent either a 2nd Reminder Notice or a Final Notice. These may be sent under the heading "Pre-Summons Notice". Again, if your payments are not brought up to date, we can take Court action to enforce payment of the debt.
We can still be contacted to discuss an arrangement for payment, even when the full balance has become payable on your account. However, we should be contacted as soon as possible after the Reminder or Final Notice has been sent if Court action is to be avoided.
Taking court action
We will take Court action to enforce payment of the debt if you either do not make an arrangement for payment or fail to keep to an arrangement made. At this point costs start to become payable. The costs for the issue of a summons are currently £60.00.
If the amount, including costs, shown on the summons is paid in full before the Court Hearing, no further action will be taken and proceedings will be withdrawn.
If you are unable to pay the full amount immediately, we can still be contacted to discuss an arrangement for payment on the understanding that the application for a Liability Order and additional costs will proceed. In these cases, we will not take any enforcement action on the Liability Order if the arrangement is maintained.
If a Liability Order is granted, additional costs of £30.00 will be incurred, resulting in total costs of £90.00 being added to your account.
The Liability Order
If a Liability Order is granted, we can immediately take action to enforce payment of the outstanding amount. Even at this late stage, unless instructions to take enforcement action have been issued, you will still have the opportunity to make an arrangement for payment.
If you do not make an arrangement for payment, or fail to keep to an arrangement made, we will take action to enforce payment of the debt without further notice.
How we can enforce payment
The main ways we can enforce payment of the debt are as follows:
Bailiffs may be instructed to remove and sell your goods to the value of the outstanding Business Rates and costs incurred. The Bailiff will give you the opportunity to make a satisfactory arrangement for payment before considering removing your goods. If Bailiffs are instructed, you may incur a significant amount of Bailiff costs relating to the visits made by the Bailiff; levy on goods; hire of van; auctioneer's fee etc. You should be aware that the Bailiff costs are calculated as a percentage of the outstanding debt.
Bankruptcy / liquidation proceedings may be commenced.
The above options will be explored to the full in respect of any business which continues to operate without paying its Business Rates.
If the Bailiff is unable to recover the debt, and you are a person whose business, if any, is no longer operational, we will still continue to pursue the debt. If you fail to keep to an arrangement made, and another way of enforcing payment is not appropriate, we will make an application to the Magistrates' Court for your commitment to prison. Even at this late stage, we can still be contacted and we may be able to agree an arrangement for payment with you. The commencement of Committal proceedings can result in additional costs in excess of £150.00 being incurred and the Magistrates can send you to prison for a period up to 3 months.
At whichever stage of the enforcement process you make contact to make an arrangement for payment, wherever possible, we will try to listen to any difficulties you may be having and deal with you in a reasonable manner. In doing this, we will seek to ensure that you are able to meet your ongoing Business Rate liability. This will mean that, in order to help you, we may sometimes need to ask for full details of your financial position. There may also be occasions when we will advise you to seek help from a firm of Insolvency Practitioners who may be able to give you specialist advice on how best to resolve any difficulties.
We can be contacted to discuss your Business Rates at any stage.
