Accessibility settings

In order to remember your preferences as you navigate through the site, a cookie will be set.

Color preference

Text size

Dyslexic?

Skip Menu

About Business Rates recovery

The law says you must pay Business Rates by the due date. We will usually take action to recover what you owe us if you get into arrears.

This means it is important you contact us at the earliest opportunity if you cannot afford to pay your Business Rates bill. We may be able to assist you with extending payments or restructuring your instalment plan.

It’s also important to pay attention to any reminder notices we sent you, because you might have to pay legal costs as well as the rates you owe if we take action against you.

It can take several days for payments to reach us, so you must allow enough time to make sure each payment is with us by the date it’s due.

You must still pay the amount on the bill we have sent if you are waiting to hear from us about a rate relief application or are in discussion with the Valuation Office Agency about the Rateable Value for the property. Once the decision has been made, you’ll get a new bill that takes into account any overpayment.

Reminder Notices

It is important that you pay your Business Rates on or before the due date.

You will receive a Reminder Notice if:

  • you didn’t pay the correct amount or by the correct instalment date as shown on your bill
  • your payment didn’t reach your business rates account by the time the reminder was issued
  • you missed a payment

What to do if you paid the correct amount on the correct date

If you have paid the correct amount as stated on your bill and on the correct date, you will need to check if the payment has cleared by checking your bank statement. If the payment has cleared but the council has not received it, you will need to provide proof of your payment so that we can investigate further; please email businessrates@tewkesbury.gov.uk with the date and evidence of the payment.

What to do if you didn’t pay the correct amount or missed a payment

You must pay the amount shown on the reminder notice within seven days to bring your account up to date. You must also ensure that you pay your future monthly instalments on time to avoid debt recovery action.

You can pay the arrears using one of the following payment methods:

What will happen if you do not pay the reminder

If you do not pay the amount you owe within 7 days of the date of issue of the reminder notice, you may be sent a summons after a further 7 days as you will lose the right to pay by instalments.

If you do not make full payment when you are sent the summons, we will ask the Magistrates Court to grant a Liability Order which will incur court costs of £55.00. The date of the hearing will be on the summons. Payment must have been received on your Business Rate Account prior to the date of the hearing for the Liability Order application to cease.

What to do if you cannot pay the reminder

  • Please check if you are entitled to receive any Reduction or Relief. This may not prevent a summons being issued, but it could reduce the amount to be paid, making it easier for you to manage payments.
  • Please pay as much of the arrears as you can reasonably afford.  Paying anything less than the full amount may not prevent a summons being issued, but it will make it easier to agree a payment arrangement after a summons is sent.
  • Please check if you are paying over 10 months or 12. If over 10 months, you can ask for your payments to be extended to March of each year, which will reduce the monthly payment you need to make. You can request this by emailing businessrates@tewkesbury.gov.uk . You will then be sent a new bill with revised instalments.
  • Please check www.businessdebtline.org as this may help you get additional support to deal with matters including any other debts that you may have.

Final Notices

When a Final Notice is issued you lose the right to pay by instalments and you will have to pay the full balance by the date stated on the notice. If you do not pay the full balance a summons will be issued for which you will incur court costs.

 Why has a Final Notice been issued?

  • You have not paid the correct amount of your instalment and on the correct date as shown on your bill.
  • You have not kept up to date with your payments after receiving a reminder.
  • Your payment had not reached your account when the Final Notice was issued.

What to do if you paid the correct amount on the correct date

If you have paid the correct amount as stated on your bill and on the correct date, you will need to check if the payment has cleared by checking your bank statement. If the payment has cleared but the council has not received it, you will need to provide proof of your payment so that we can investigate further; please email businessrates@tewkesbury.gov.uk with the date and evidence of the payment.

What to do if you didn’t pay the correct amount or missed a payment

You must pay the full balance shown on the Final Notice within seven days to bring your account up to date.

What will happen if you do not pay the Final Notice

If you do not pay the amount you owe within 7 days of the date of issue of the final notice, you may be sent a summons.

If you do not make full payment when you are sent a summons, we will ask the Magistrates Court to grant a Liability Order which will incur court costs of £55.00.. The date of the hearing will be on the summons. Payment must have been received on your Business Rate Account prior to the date of the hearing for the Liability Order application to cease.

What to do if you cannot pay the final notice

  • Please check if you are entitled to receive any Reduction or Relief.  This may not prevent a summons being issued, but it could reduce the amount to be paid, making it easier for you to manage payments.
  • Please pay as much of the arrears as you can reasonably afford.  Paying anything less than the full amount may not prevent a summons being issued, but it will make it easier to agree a payment arrangement after a summons is sent.
  • Please check www.businessdebtline.org as this may help you get additional support to deal with matters including any other debts that you may have.

Issue of a summons

The case will go to court if you don’t pay in full before the date of the hearing. If you can’t pay in full you should contact us to make arrangements about paying the outstanding amount. The case will still go to court, but we won’t take any further action against you if we have agreed a payment plan and you are making payments by the agreed dates.

You don’t need to go to the court hearing if you accept that you owe the amount outstanding. The court can’t take account of your financial situation or discuss payment with you.

If you believe you have already paid or that someone else is responsible for paying, you can contact us on 01684 295010 or by email: businessrates@tewkesbury.gov.uk

If we agree with you, we will stop proceedings. It will save you time and money if you talk to us before this stage if you don’t think you should be paying the amount.

When Business Rates cases go to court, we ask the court to make a Liability Order. The Liability Order allows us to take action to recover what you owe us. The cost of making the order is added to what you owe. You must still pay this extra cost even if you have made a payment arrangement.

Defences to a liability order

These are defences which have previously been successful:

NNDR: Local Government Finance Act 1989. National Non-Domestic Rating (Collection & Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989.

  • There is no entry in the rating list effective for the period for which the defendant is alleged to have been liable to pay the Business Rates.
  • That the bill, reminder/final notice, and summons have not been demanded or served in accordance with the National Non-Domestic Rating (Collection & Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989.
  • That the amount demanded has been paid.
  • The ratepayer is deceased.
  • That application was made more than six years after the first demand notice was issued.
  • That the council is in breach of the duty to service notices “as soon as practicable” in the relevant year.
  • Although you occupy only part of the premises in one assessment you are being charged for the whole property (with no lease in place for this).

The court will issue a liability order if the council has done what it should, and you are the person responsible for the Business Rates at that property and you do not have an acceptable defence.

After the court hearing

If we have agreed a payment plan with you, we will only enforce the Liability Order if you miss a payment. We can enforce a Liability Order straightaway if we have not agreed a payment plan with you.

Actions we can take include bringing in enforcement agents (bailiffs) or starting bankruptcy or winding up (liquidation) proceedings.

Enforcement agents (bailiffs)

If you have not paid a debt, it is tempting to ignore letters and calls. However, this will add more costs. Always reply to attempts to contact you. You may be able to arrange to pay in instalments.

Liability Order given to enforcement company

The Liability Order may be given to an enforcement agent or enforcement company to recover the debt. If so, a fee of £75 is added to the amount owed.

Compliance stage

The first step in the enforcement process is the compliance stage where you are sent a ‘Notice of Enforcement’. This gives details of:

  • The outstanding debt.
  • How and when to pay by.
  • What happens if you don’t pay.
  • The extra fees you could then also expect to pay.
  • Contact details for the enforcement agent or company.
  • Contact details for free debt advice.

You will have at least seven days (not including Sundays or Bank Holidays) before any further action is taken by the enforcement agent unless a court has decided otherwise.

At this point you should contact the enforcement agent or company immediately to arrange for payment to be made to them.

Once a debt is with an enforcement agent, you are required to pay them, rather than Tewkesbury Borough Council. If you are unable to pay, you should still call the enforcement agent or company and explain why.

Enforcement stage

If the enforcement agent or company doesn’t hear from you by the date stated, they will move the matter to the enforcement stage. This means you’ll have at least one visit from an enforcement agent to arrange payment, and an additional £235 (plus 7.5% of the original debt over £1500) will be added to the amount you owe.

The enforcement agent will carry their enforcement agent certificate and photographic ID.  They are not obliged to inform you of the precise date and time of a visit. It could be anytime from 6am – 9pm on any day including Sundays, and religious or public holidays.

Sometimes the enforcement agent will enter into a controlled goods agreement with you. This means a list is drawn up of what could be removed at a later date if you do not come to an alternative arrangement. Making a controlled goods agreement gives you a final chance to pay your debt rather than having your goods removed.

Sale stage

If full payment is not made, you risk having your possessions removed for sale by the enforcement agent. This is the sale stage.

A fee of £110 (plus 7.5% of the original debt over £1,500) is added to the amount owed to cover costs for moving the possessions so they can be sold.  Additional (actual) costs for other expenses, such as hiring a locksmith, storing goods or auction costs, may be applied.  Further expenses are limited and must be approved by the court.

Bankruptcy or liquidation

Where there is a Liability Order in place with an outstanding balance of £3,000 or more, we can start winding up (liquidation) proceedings. Where the outstanding balance is £5,000 or more, we can start bankruptcy proceedings.

It is therefore in your best interests to contact us immediately if you are unable to pay an amount that is due, or you are experiencing financial difficulties.