The Council has a legal duty to seek to recovery of all outstanding debts. Any failure to maximise the collection of Business Rates will potentially put Council services at risk.
If you have problems paying your Business Rates at any stage, you should contact the Business Rates team by email at business.rates@sefton.gov.uk or by telephoning 0151 934 4360 between 9.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
You may also visit one of Sefton Council’s One Stop Shops to speak to a Customer Services Advisor.
Bootle One Stop Shop is located on 324 Stanley Road, Bootle, L20 3ET and is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Southport One Stop Shop is located within The Atkinson, Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1DB and is an appointment only service Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. To make an appointment please telephone 0345 140 0845.
We will check whether you are entitled to any of the business rates reliefs or exemptions that exist. These could reduce your bill and make it easier for you to meet your payments. We will also discuss your payment options and consider making an arrangement with you.
Instalments
Business Rate payers are entitled to pay their current year’s demand in instalments. If you receive a demand at the start of the financial year you will be given 10 instalments. Where demands are issued later in the year, the number of instalments you can pay over will be reduced. Every customer has the right to make a request for their payments to be extended for up to 12 months (i.e. April to March). Complete the online application form here.
You should make your payments by the due dates shown on your bill and it is important that payments are received by the Council by that date.
What will happen if I do not pay my Business Rates?
If you miss an instalment, or pay less than the amount due, you can expect the following action:
- We will send a reminder notice for any unpaid instalment shortly after it is due. The overdue amount must be paid within 10 days.
- If the overdue amount is not paid, you will lose the right to pay by instalments after a further 7 days. No further reminders will be sent and we will send you a Court summons.
- If you bring your account up to date within 7 days of the reminder you can still pay by monthly instalments as shown on your bill.
- Further non-payment will result in a final notice being used. This means that your right to pay by instalments is withdrawn and the full amount outstanding on the notice must be paid within 7 days. If the overdue amount is not paid, we will send you a Court summons.
Summons and Liability Order Information
If you are sent a summons, you will also have to pay additional summons costs. However, we will take no further action if the outstanding charge and costs are paid before the hearing.
If payment is not received, then we will seek to obtain a Liability Order. This allows us to take other legal proceedings to recover the outstanding balance if an arrangement isn’t made, such as:
- Referring your account to an enforcement agency
- Applying for your bankruptcy/liquidation
Further costs may be incurred if any of these actions are taken.
Do I have to attend court?
No, you do not have to attend court: -
- If you do not dispute that you owe the amount due.
- If the total amount due, including costs is paid before the date of the hearing.
If you are unable to pay the full amount on the summons?
If you are having difficulty paying the full payment, you must contact us as soon as possible with your proposed payment arrangement by completing the online payment arrangement form found here.
All payment arrangements must be made with the agreement of the Council to make sure that no further action is taken as long as you keep to the agreed payment arrangement.
The Council will still apply for a Liability Order but undertake not to take any further proceedings if you make the payments as agreed.
What if I dispute the debt?
- If you dispute that you owe the amount due or that you are responsible for the property, please contact the Council immediately.
- The Council will attempt to resolve any dispute before the court hearing date. If the dispute cannot be resolved, your right to ask the Magistrates to consider your case is unaffected.
Attending Court
If you want to attend the court hearing, the Magistrate will ask if you have a valid defence which will stop a liability order from being granted.
The most common defences that the Magistrate will take into account are:
- You have paid your bill, including the summons costs
- You are not responsible for the premises during the period for which you have been summonsed
- Bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings have commenced
- The application for the liability order was made more than six years after the first demand notice was issued
If any of the above apply to you, it is very important that you contact the Business Rates team prior to the court hearing to try to resolve the matter before appearing before the Magistrate.
The Magistrate will not consider issues such as outstanding valuation appeals or your ability to pay.
Can I request a copy of the Liability Order?
Following the Magistrates’ Court Hearing at which Liability Orders are granted, a full list of those granted is produced. The list contains the names and addresses of those charge payers against who an order was granted together with the amount they owe. This list is produced electronically, and an electronic copy is kept by both the Local Authority and the Magistrates’ Court in which the orders were granted.
The granting of a Liability Order is a legal process and is not a document and as such cannot be evidenced in the form of a document.
Enforcement Agent
If we pass your case to our enforcement agency, a £75 fee will be added to your account immediately.
You should contact the enforcement agency straight away to discuss payment arrangements to avoid further fees being added to your account.
If you don’t, an enforcement agent will visit you to remove goods to cover the amount you owe and an additional £235 enforcement fee will be added to your account, plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.
You can make a payment arrangement with the enforcement agent at any stage, but you must sign the controlled goods agreement.
If you don’t keep up your payments, they can remove goods and will charge an additional fee of £110 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500 - plus reasonable storage and auctioneer fees.
If you make payments to us after your case has been passed to the enforcement agency, your case will remain open with them and they’ll proceed as normal for the remaining balance, including their fees.
Once your case has been passed to the enforcement agency, it will remain with them until the full debt is cleared.
This course of action can add substantial costs to your account. To avoid this, please contact the Business Rates team before the court hearing.
Debt Advice
If you have several debts and are experiencing problems in paying them, it may help if you get independent guidance from an advice agency.
They may be able to help you prioritise the debts, work out how much you are able to afford and may negotiate repayments on your behalf.
Local and national agencies that give free advice can be found in the External Organisation section on the Contact us page of the website. (make hyperlink)
Sefton Council’s Corporate Debt Policy
Our Corporate Debt policy can be found below
| Corporate Debt policy 2025 2026 |  (pdf 400KB) |