Business Rates Recovery

Having problems paying your bill?

If you are having problems paying your business rates, you should contact us as soon as possible. You can email us at business.rates@huntingdonshire.gov.uk or call us on 01480 388030.

What happens if I don’t pay my business rates?

We will:

• Send a reminder notice

If you miss a payment, we will send you a reminder notice giving you seven days to bring your payments up to date. You can ignore the notice if you have paid the amount owed in the last few days.

We will only send you one reminder notice in a financial year. If you miss any payments, after receiving the reminder, we will cancel your instalment plan and ask you to pay the full outstanding balance of your business rates bill.

• Send a final notice

If you receive a final notice you have lost your right to pay by instalments and must pay the full outstanding balance within seven days. If you fail to pay we will then apply for a summons, including extra costs, to be issued against you.

• Issue a summons

If you receive a summons, which is a Magistrates’ Court summons, you must pay the full amount including the summons costs of £85. If you pay the full amount (including the summons costs) before the court hearing date, no further action will be taken.

• Apply for a liability order

If you do not pay the full balance (including costs of £85) by the court hearing date we will apply for a liability order to be issued, which will incur additional costs of £5. A liability order lets us recover the debt from you in a number of ways, including:

• instructing enforcement agent  (bailiffs) to remove and sell goods (including vehicles), belonging to you / the company, to pay the debt
• petitioning for a Bankruptcy Order if you are a sole trader or partnership
• petitioning for a Winding Up Order if the debt relates to a limited / plc company
• applying to the court for you to be sent to prison, for up to three months, if you are a sole trader or partnership