Paying your bill
If you have to pay council tax we will send you a bill. The bill will tell you how and when to pay. The maximum number of monthly instalments is normally 10. This depends on when we send you the bill. We know that it is more convenient for some people to pay over 12 months. So we now offer 12 monthly payments from April to March if you pay by direct debit. You can also pay your bill all at once, every six months, every three months or every fortnight. If you do not pay monthly, please let us know how you plan to pay.
Unless you have made arrangements with us to pay by direct debit or standing order, we will send you a payment book for you to pay in cash or by cheque.
The cash counters at Lewisham Town Hall are now open from 9.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.00pm Friday and from 9.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday. There is a ramp for wheelchairs and pushchairs at the Catford Road side of the Town Hall. The entrance to the cash hall has automatic doors, and our cash desk has an induction loop for hearing aids.
You can also pay using PayPoint outlets. These are in local shops and you can use them whenever the shops are open, including weekends and evenings. There is no charge to use them. Please phone our council tax helpline on 020 8690 9666 for details of your nearest PayPoint outlet or use the website on the right.
Alternatively you can pay your council tax by switch or credit card using our direct telephone line, 020 8690 8707.
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You can pay by credit card (Mastercard or Visa) or by debit card (Switch or Delta) via the Internet. To pay this way, log on to the Lewisham web site online payments page.
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If you have a building society or bank account, the easiest way to pay is by direct debit. This is a convenient way to pay as you don’t have to remember to change the amount of your payments each year, and you can choose a convenient time of the month to pay. We will always tell you how much your payments are and give you 14 days notice if they are going to change. You can cancel a direct debit at any time by telling your bank. This gives you total control. If we make a mistake, we promise to put it right immediately and pay you the money back. You can change your method of payment to direct debit at any time by filling in the slip at the front of your payment book or by phoning the council tax helpline on 020 8690 9666. Alternaively you can complete a direct debit mandate online.
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Discounts
If you live on your own, you can apply for a 25% discount off your council tax bill. Even if you share your home, you may still be entitled to a discount if you, or those you share with, are not counted towards paying council tax.
If you are applying for a 25% discount before 1 April of the current financial year you will need to supply proof and give your reasons in writing for not applying earlier.
Disability relief
If your property has special facilities for someone with a disability who lives there, you may qualify for a reduction to your bill.
Council tax benefits
If you are on benefit or low income (or you share your home with people who are on benefit or a low income) you may be entitled to a reduction in your bill. The reduction will depend on a number of things such as:
- how much money you have coming in
- how many children you have and
- how much you have in savings.
You will not be entitled to council tax benefit if you have over £16,000 in savings, but you may be entitled to second adult rebate if other people live with you.
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Please let us know straight away if you have problems paying your council tax.
We will try and work out a payment plan to help you. If you still owe money from last year's bill we may be able to spread the payments over this year if you have not received a summons.
We treat each case separately and aim to avoid taking legal action which increases the amount you owe.
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Situation 1
If you get income support you will probably not have to pay any council tax, but you may owe council tax from a time when you were not on income support. We may make an arrangement with you which normally would clear the outstanding debt before the end of the current financial year.
Situation 2
If you get behind with your payments but do not get council tax benefit, we will try and help you. We may ask you to add payments for the amount you owe to any monthly or weekly payments you have still got to make for the financial year. Because payment arrangements usually end in January, we may extend the payment period through to February or March to help you pay off what you owe. This depends on the time of year and how much you owe.
If your circumstances change suddenly (for example, if someone close to you dies, you become unemployed or are having financial difficulties), we can always try and arrange another way for you to pay to help you get over the difficult period. We will review this arrangement when your circumstances change. We aim to make sure that anyone in difficulty gets as much help as possible with their council tax payments.
We will expect you to keep to any arrangement we make with you...if you don't we will take legal action!
Council tax is a priority debt and must be paid before any credit card and/or charge card repayments.
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A soon as you miss a payment we will send you a reminder. This lets you know that your payment is late. This reminder gives you seven days to make all the payments you have missed. If you do not pay all the money you owe, we will send you a summons for the full amount and charge you an extra £75.00 for court costs.
If you get a reminder and cannot pay, contact us immediately so we can discuss the possibility of spreading the missed payments over your remaining instalments. If you agree to this arrangement and do not keep to your payments or if you ignore the reminder, we will take you to court. If you paid the amount due on the reminder and you miss another payment, we will send you a final notice. You will lose your right to pay by instalments and the final notice will ask you to pay all the council tax you still owe for the financial year within seven days.
We will send you a summons if you do not pay the full amount.
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If you receive a summons for your council tax, you will have to pay the £75.00 costs. If you cannot pay the full amount on the summons, including costs before the hearing, you must contact us to discuss how to pay.
At the summons hearing, we will ask the magistrate to make a liability order against you and we will add an extra £50.00 costs to your account. The order shows that the court agrees you owe us the money and it gives us extra powers to get the money from you.
The magistrate will not make a liability order if you can prove you are not the person responsible for paying the bill or you have paid your account in full. The magistrate will not consider whether or not you are able to pay the outstanding council tax when he or she makes an order.
Once the court has made a liability order against you, we will write to confirm the court's decision and give you a final chance to pay. If you do not contact us or pay as agreed, we will use one of the methods set out on the next page to get back the money you owe us.
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We may ask a bailiff to take some of your belongings. We will then sell these at public auction to pay off the debt.
The bailiff we use will always ask our advice if they find that a person we have asked them to visit is in a vulnerable position. This includes:
- people with a physical or mental disability
- people in receipt of sickness benefit, incapacity benefit etc. who have no other income
- people who have just come off benefit and returned to work in the last two months
- pensioners on low income and who don't qualify for council tax rebate due to excess income of £5 a week
- a single parent on a very low income and in receipt of family credit
- people who have just come out of hospital, or have a partner in hospital
- people who have just had a bereavement
- people on income support or job seekers' allowance
- someone with a long-term illness
- cases where there are serious family or financial difficulties.
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If you are in work, we will ask your employer to take money from your earnings to cover the amount you owe us. The amount they actually take will depend on your circumstances. Your employer may also take an extra £1 to cover their expenses every time they take money from your earnings.
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We will take money from your income support. At the moment the most we can take is £2.90 per week, but this sum is increased annually.
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If the bailiffs do not manage to collect any or all of the money you owe us, then they will return the Liability Order to the Council. The Council will ask the court for a warrant for your arrest and you will be taken to court. The Magistrate may send you to prison for up to three months if he or she considers that you did not pay even though you had the money to do so.
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If you do not pay after a Liability Order has been granted and you own your house, then the Council may apply to the court for a Charging Order on your house. This means that you cannot sell your house until the council tax has been paid.
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The Council may apply to the High Court to declare you bankrupt. This means that your assets will be sold and you will be unable to obtain credit.
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We are committed to providing a polite, friendly, helpful, prompt and efficient council tax service.
We will treat you politely and with respect and the member of staff serving you will tell you their name.
We will give you clear and brief information about the services we provide, the standards we aim to achieve and our actual performance.
We will take fast and effective action to get back any council tax which is not paid.
We will discuss the possibility of an arrangement with you if you are behind with your payments because of unexpected circumstances or if it would cause you real financial difficulty to pay straight away.
If you would like to know more about the standards and type of service we aim to provide and what you can expect from us, please ring the council tax helpline on 020 8690 9666 for a copy of our service guarantees. You can also get the service guarantees from the AccessPoint in Laurence House (opposite the Town Hall) or Giffin Street, Deptford. They are open from:
- 8.30am to 5pm Monday
- 9am to 5pm, Tuesday and Wednesday
- 9am to 7pm Thursday (5pm closing at Giffin St)
- 9am to 4pm Friday (5pm closing at Giffin St)
- 9am to 1pm on Saturday (closed at Giffin St).
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Please let us know if you are unhappy with any part of the council tax service. Our 3 stage complaints procedure aims to provide a fair and easy process for you to resolve your complaint.
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If you need help or advice from us, please do one of the following:
- phone the council tax helpline on 020 8690 9666
- write to Council Tax Customer Services, PO Box 1221, London SE6 4RT
- go to AccessPoint.
If you want independent help or advice from someone who doesn't work for the Council, write to:
- Citizens' Advice Bureau Catford, 120 Rushey Green London SE6.
or ring:
- public advice telephone number 08701 264 037
- Lewisham Debt Line on 020 8694 7647 Monday and Thursday 2.00pm to 4.00pm and Tuesday and Friday 10.00am to 12 noon
- alternatively, for those with internet access, please log onto the Citizens' Advice Bureau website: www.adviceguide.org.uk
For free, independent legal advice on summonses or court procedures write to or ring:
- North Lewisham Law Centre 28 Deptford High Street, London SE8 telephone number 020 8692 4355
- New Cross Legal Advice Centre 170 New Cross Road London SE14 telephone number 020 7732 9716.
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The Freedom of Information Act 2000 aims to promote openness and accountability amongst public sector bodies. The act became law on 30 November 2000 and gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information, regardless of how the information is held.
People can gain access to information held in two ways:
- Freedom of Information Publication Scheme for the London Borough of Lewisham – some information is made routinely available and listed through our publication scheme
- a written request for any information held by a public authority (subject to a number of exemptions which permit withholding information) The authority is duty bound to comply with the act when responding.
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The Data Protection Act 1998 covers the collecting, storing, processing and distribution of personal data. It gives rights to individuals about whom information is recorded.
This applies to all individuals whether they are an employee, elected member or a member of the public. Each individual has the right to access personal data, prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress and prevent processing for the purposes of direct marketing.
This means we are unable to give information about a council tax account to anyone other than the liable council tax payer(s) without prior permission.
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