Business rates recovery

• A bill will be issued advising you of how much is due and when to pay.
• A reminder notice will be issued if an instalment plan falls into arrears.
• You now have 7 days to pay the amount shown on the reminder notice.
  • If the account is brought up to date after the reminder notice is issued but a further instalment is late or not paid, a final notice will be issues requiring payment of the financial year's balance in full.
  • If the full financial year's balance is not paid, a summons will be served, incurring court costs.
  • If the total amount due on the summons is not paid before the court hearing date, the Council will apply for a liability order, incurring further court costs. Once a liability order is issued, further recovery action can be taken.
• If the amount shown on the reminder notice is not paid within 7 days, the right to pay by instalments is lost and the full balance for the financial year becomes due and must be paid within 7 days.
• If the full financial year's balance is not paid, a summons will be served incurring court costs.
• If the total amount due on the summons is not paid before the court hearing date, the Council will apply for a liability order. Once a liability order is issued, further recovery action can be taken.

If you don't pay an instalment of your business rates by the date it is due, we will send you a reminder showing the amount you need to pay. If you make your payment within seven days, you can continue paying by instalments.

If you do not pay the full amount shown on the reminder notice within seven days, and you do not contact us, we will wait another seven days before we ask the Magistrates' Court to send you a summons to attend a court hearing.

Visit the eStore payment system to pay your business rates online

If you fail to make a payment after the issue of a reminder or final notice, or if you fail to maintain a payment arrangement, the council will request the Magistrates' Court to issue a summons.

Our records show that you have not paid the previous reminder sent during the current financial year. A final notice explains that you have lost the right to pay by instalments. The balance for the financial year should now be paid in full.

Visit the eStore payment system to pay your business rates online

Depending on your circumstances, we may consider making a special arrangement for repayment of arrears, and you should contact us immediately if you are unable to pay the full amount. View contact details for the Business Rates team.

If you fail to make a payment after the issue of a reminder or final notice, or if you fail to maintain a payment arrangement, the Council will request the Magistrates' Court to issue a summons.

If you don’t pay your business rates or don’t keep to an agreement to pay, we can issue you with a court summons, which provides details of a court hearing asking for a liability order.

A liability order is a court order that gives us certain powers to collect outstanding business rates by methods such as:

• enforcement agents
• bankruptcy and insolvency
• committal to prison

If you want to discuss a payment arrangement or believe that the summons has been issued in error, please contact the Business Rates team.

If you accept that you owe the money there is no need to attend court, the case will be heard in your absence.

If you do not accept that you owe the money and believe you have a valid defence, you must notify the court before the date on the summons, this hearing will be adjourned and you will be given a different date to attend the Magistrates’ Court to hear your defence. The Court can only consider a valid defence:

1. That the amount due has not been demanded in accordance with the Non-Domestic rating (Collection and Enforcement)(Local Lists) Regulations 1989.
2. That the total amount due has been paid in full.
3. The application for the Liability Order was made more than six years after the day on which the sum became due.

The court does not hear arguments about whether you can afford to pay. If you would like to discuss an arrangement to pay, please contact 01952 383838.

The Magistrates’ Court have granted a liability order and we have passed your details to an enforcement agent (bailiff). Once your debt has been passed to an agent, you must contact them directly to make payment. If you do not contact them, further action will be taken incurring additional fees.

Telford & Wrekin Council employs two accredited enforcement/debt collection agents authorised to act on our behalf:

• visit the Marston Recovery website
  Telephone: 0333 320 1822

• visit the Newlyn PLC website
  Telephone: 0160 463 3001

The enforcement agents acting on our behalf should act professionally and to a set of standards at all times.

If an enforcement agent has been instructed by us to collect unpaid business rates, you will incur extra charges as detailed in the table below. These charges are set by the government and are not negotiable.

When an enforcement agent visits, you will have to pay a further fixed fee of £235 plus 7.5% for any debt due that is over £1500. Even if you pay in full at this stage, you will still have to pay all of these costs.

If you are unable to pay in full, the enforcement agent can make the decision to take control of your goods. The enforcement agent may enter into a Controlled Goods Agreement, where the agent makes a list of your possessions that is equal in value to your debt. This means that you cannot dispose or sell them without the enforcement agents permission. These will then be sold at public auction.

Obstructing an enforcement agent or interfering with controlled goods is now an offence for which you can be arrested and sent to prison.

Visit the GOV.UK website for more information about enforcement agent powers and removal of goods.

If the enforcement agent does not collect all the money that you owe the Council, we will consider other options to recover the debt which may include bankruptcy or asking the court to assist in the recovery of the debt which may result in sending you to prison for up to three months.

If your business rates debt is in excess of £5000 and a liability order has been obtained by the Magistrates' Court, we may start bankruptcy/insolvency proceedings against you if we have tried unsuccessfully at recovering the business rates debt.

Bankruptcy will be taken against a sole trader, whereas Insolvency action will be taken against a company. The outcome of this action may lead to your property and goods being taken away from you and closure of your business.

If we take this action, we will pass your account to our solicitors who will send you a statutory demand. If you receive a statutory demand, you should contact the Council immediately. An agreement to settle the debt can still be made before we present a petition to the County Court.

Visit the GOV.UK website for more information about bankruptcy.

Yes.

If all alternative methods of collection have been unsuccessful and you still owe us money we can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a warrant to send you to prison.

You will be summonsed to appear before the Magistrates' Court. At this hearing, the Council will outline the non-payment of business rates and we will ask the court to consider your committal to prison for a period of up to three months.

You (or your legal representative) will be asked to explain why you have not paid your business rates and your current and previous financial circumstances will be explored. The Magistrate will then make a decision regarding the matter.

The court may decide to postpone imprisonment on certain conditions, like you agreeing to repay the debt over time. The court can also cancel all or part of the debt.