How to check the council tax band for your property
The band for your property is shown on your council tax bill above the charge details – look for the words 'Annual Charges for Council Tax Band'.
You can also check your Council Tax band on the Government website.
Our staff are working additional hours to help reduce waiting times, we have also recently introduced the new My Account service which is an online account for residents to view and manage their account online, as well as submit changes to their circumstances online. Over 59% of the changes coming in via the My Account portal are automatically updating Council Tax records. The remaining changes reported are being handled by Council Tax staff due to the level of checks required and these are being dealt with within 2 weeks of being received.
Further information can be found on the New Online 'My Account' service page.
The wait time for our Council Tax call handlers to answer your call can vary at different times of the day. The lines can be especially busy at the beginning of the working week. If you have received a letter from us and need to speak to a call handler, please bear in mind that many other residents will have also received a letter and they too are trying to call us.
One Stop Shops
We are currently experiencing a high volume of calls to our Contact Centre and requests to our Council Tax Teams - in part due to the cost of living crisis.
Both teams are currently prioritising supporting the most vulnerable and those in need of help and support from our Emergency Limited Assistance Scheme (ELAS).
We appreciate that the current response times will be frustrating for people trying to contact the Council, so we have taken steps to recruit and train additional staff, and our staff are working extra hours to help meet the demand. We would encourage people to use online processes wherever possible.
Our Council Tax team is currently experiencing a high volume of calls and enquiries, partly due to the cost-of-living crisis and also a recent change in systems. Priority is given to our most vulnerable residents and those experiencing financial hardship. Enquiries around a change of address or a new occupier can take up to 2 weeks to process.
The Council will always try to support residents struggling with their Council Tax payments by working with them to extend payments over a longer period of time. We encourage residents who know that they are responsible for paying Council Tax to put money aside to cover their bill when it arrives wherever possible. We understand that these delays can be frustrating for people and work is ongoing to reduce the time taken to respond to the current level of enquiries.
Our staff are working additional hours to help reduce waiting times, we have also recently introduced the new My Account service which is an online account for residents to view and manage their account online, as well as submit changes to their circumstances online. Over 58% of the changes coming in via the My Account portal are automatically updating Council Tax records. The remaining changes reported are being handled by Council Tax staff due to the level of checks required and these are being dealt with within 2 weeks of being received.
We would like to thank residents for their patience at this time. We apologise for the delays and are working hard to reduce the time taken to deal with current level of enquiries.
This page will be regularly updated with expected timescales for handling enquiries. If you have not received a response to your original enquiry, we request that you do not make a follow-up enquiry within the timescales detailed below as this will only add to the delays we are currently experiencing.
Application for a Discount/Exemption – response up to 1 week.
Please note that if you have not supplied supporting evidence where required this may delay the processing of your application.
Apply for a council tax discount or exemption
Change of Address / Household Occupier Details – response time up to 1 week.
Notify us about your change of address.
Other Enquiries – response time up to 2 weeks.
We understand that receiving a summons can be very worrying if you are unable to pay the amount due in full. It is our desire to agree reasonable payment arrangements.
Make an offer to repay your council tax.
Once completed, we will suspend further recovery action until your offer is accepted and a new formal arrangement made to pay your remaining Council Tax in instalments.
After you have completed the form please make payments as per your offer until a member of the Council Tax team contacts you. We aim to respond to all offers of payment within 10 working days.
If you are on a low income you may be eligible to receive Council Tax Reduction. Details of the scheme and the online application process is in the link below.
Find out if you're eligible for a council tax reduction
If you are already in receipt of Council Tax Reduction, you may be able to request an Exceptional Hardship Fund payment if you are experiencing hardship caused by unusual or extreme circumstances. The Exceptional Hardship Fund application process is in the link below.
Request an Exceptional Hardship Fund payment
Further help can also be found on the Struggling to pay your Council Tax Bill page.
Sefton Council’s Revenues and Benefits service offers “extra help” for older customers or customers with a disability or serious illness.
The additional assistance we offer include:
- Large print we can send your documentation out in large print.
- Coloured paper we can send your documents on the coloured paper you need.
- Braille we can send out your documentation in Braille on request.
- Recite me read aloud and translation software is available on all Sefton Council webpages.
- Language Translation services are available on request.
- Web chat subject to availability, you may be able to chat online with one of our customer services officers during office hours via our website.
- Social media you can contact us on our dedicated Twitter account, @seftoncouncil or via Facebook.
- Home visits if you require support and this can’t be done over the phone, we may be able to arrange for a member staff to visit you at home to help complete any documents or if you require more detailed explanations about our services, we will be happy to do this.
If you would like to register for any of these extra services, please use our Contact Form - Section 1 - MyServices. Select one of our teams, i.e. Business Rates, Council Tax, Housing Benefit & Council Tax Reduction Scheme or Sundry Income, as appropriate, from the list of Departments and explain what additional assistance you require in the “Comments / enquiry” box.