I have received a Business Rates Summons

You will have received a Business Rates Summons if you have not paid your Business Rates instalments by the due date shown on your bill.

Before receiving a  Summons, you will have already received a reminder, telling you to bring your account up to date.

A Summons will be sent to you if your account is still overdue. The Summons will tell you that further action will be taken to collect the outstanding amount.

Summons costs of £48.00 have been added to the amount you owe.

The notice also details the date on which the Council will apply to the Magistrates Court for a Liability Order.

To stop this court action you should pay the amount shown on your Summons in full, including the costs, before the court date.

If you can't pay the full amount before the court date, please get in touch with us straight away. We may be able to agree a special arrangement with you to spread your payments. This will not stop the court action and will include further costs. As the matter is dealt with by the Magistrates Court however, no County Court Judgements will be made and your credit rating will not change as a result of this action.

You have the choice of whether to attend the Liability Order hearing or not. The hearing will go ahead in your absence unless you have already paid your account in full. If you choose to attend the hearing the Magistrate will ask if you have a valid defence which will stop a Liability Order being granted. 

If you have paid the outstanding amount in full including the costs since the date of issue shown on the Summons you need take no further action.

If you have not paid, but are able to pay or want to discuss payment options, contact us as soon as possible before the Liability Order hearing date. Your options might include:

1. Pay your outstanding balance in any of the following ways:

By debit card over the phone or online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 0333 2000 324 or at www.doncaster.gov.uk, simply look for, Pay for it, then select Business Rates and follow the instructions.

If you think you have already paid the amount by debit card, cheque, by Direct Debit or Standing Order, please check that the amount has been taken out of your bank account. If your payment has been sent please contact us on 01302 734454 (option 2) with the details of how and when you made your payment and the account information. If you have paid by cash you will need to provide a receipt as proof of payment. You can also report a missing payment online.

You can pay by cash or Debit card at any Post Office at no additional cost using the bar code on the correspondence. The bar code on any correspondence sent to you allows you to pay cash at any outlet where you see the Paypoint sign. To find your nearest Paypoint locations visit the Paypoint website. There is no cost for using this service.

Please note, a payment shows on your Business Rates account when the Council receives it. You should take this into account especially if you have paid by cheque, by Standing Order, at the Post Office or via Paypoint.

2. Make an arrangement with us to pay the amount owed

You may be able to make a payment arrangement including Summons and Liability Order costs at a frequency that suits your needs and over a longer period of time. 

City of Doncaster Council will still apply for a Liability Order. This allows the Council to take further action in the future if payments are not made or you default on any agreement to pay your Business Rates including the costs.

Contact us on 01302 734454 (option 2) to discuss payment options and get further advice.

3. You may be able to set up a direct debit and have the Summons and the costs cancelled.

This does depend on how much you owe, your previous payment history and the month in which the Summons has been issued. Direct Debit is the most convenient way to pay your Council Tax and you can choose to pay over 10 or 12 months on the 1st, 7th, 15th or 25th. 

No. You can contact the Business Rates team first on 01302 734454 (option 2). A member of staff will discuss your options with you, or rectify any problems if you feel your Business Rates is wrong

You should attend Court only if you wish to speak to a Magistrate and have a valid defence against a Liability Order. For further information about this please see the Letter from the Court that was included with your Summons.

Contact us on 01302 734454 (option 2) at the earliest opportunity to discuss your options. You may be able to make a payment arrangement including Summons and Liability Order costs at a frequency that suits your needs and over a longer period of time. 

City of Doncaster Council will still apply for a Liability Order. This allows the Council to take further action in the future if payments are not made or you default on any agreement to pay your Business Rates including the costs.

If specific payment terms can`t be agreed then recovery action will continue. This means that the following options may be used to clear your debts once a Liability Order has been obtained:

• A visit by an enforcement Agent who can seize certain goods that you own and sell them at auction. Please note substantial costs will be incurred for any Enforcement Agent visit.
• An application for bankruptcy or liquidation
• An application for your committal to prison if you refuse to pay or make no attempts to resolve the issue with us.

It is in your best interests to keep in contact and keep up to date with any payment arrangement that is agreed. You should be aware that once a Summons and Liability Order have been obtained, if it then becomes necessary to pass your account to an Enforcement Agent for further action, the following costs would be added to your account. It is therefore in your interests to make contact as early as possible:

a) Notice of Enforcement (instruction to take action) £75.00 per Liability Order

b) First visit by an Enforcement Agent – fixed fee of £235.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00

c) Sale and removal of goods – fixed fee of £110.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00 plus reasonable storage and auctioneers fees. 

At the Liability Order hearing, we will ask the Court to award an order for the amount due, including all costs. Further costs of £26.00 will be incurred at the Liability Order hearing and added to your account.

City of Doncaster Council is committed to helping Ratepayers in genuine financial difficulty but will pursue those who refuse to pay. This might include passing your debt to an Enforcement Agent, commencing Bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings, or applying for your committal to prison.

Don’t let this happen to you, contact the Business Rates team now on 01302 734454 (option 2).

If you do not contact us, or no payment arrangement is agreed, further recovery action will be taken, which may include:

• A visit by an enforcement Agent who can seize certain goods that you own and sell them at auction. Please note substantial costs will be incurred for any Enforcement Agent visit.
• An application for bankruptcy or liquidation
• An application for your committal to prison if you refuse to pay or make no attempts to resolve the issue with us.

It is in your best interests to keep in contact and keep up to date with any payment arrangement that is agreed. You should be aware that once a Summons and Liability Order have been obtained, if it then becomes necessary to pass your account to an Enforcement Agent for further action, the following costs would be added to your account. It is therefore in your interests to make contact as early as possible:

a) Notice of Enforcement (instruction to take action) £75.00 per Liability Order

b) First visit by an Enforcement Agent – fixed fee of £235.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00

c) Sale and removal of goods – fixed fee of £110.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00 plus reasonable storage and auctioneers fees. 

If you are having problems paying your Business Rates bills, you should let us know as soon as possible.

Alternative payment arrangements can be discussed at any time. You do not have to wait until you are issued with a reminder notice or Magistrates Court Summons.

If you are experiencing problems paying your Business Rates account please contact the Business Rates Section immediately. All reasonable proposals will be considered, although we may need additional information regarding your financial situation before any arrangement is considered.

You are not legally obliged to provide this information but it will assist in calculating how much you can afford to pay.

Arrangements can be discussed with a member of staff on 01302 734454, option 2 or by completing the Income and Expenditure form below and returning it to us.

Business Rates Income & Expenditure form

Download (59KB)

Have you also checked:

• Ways to reduce my Business Rates bill
• Ways to pay

If your need further help or advice

You can get free help or advice on dealing with Enforcement Agents from:

• National Debtline: https://www.nationaldebtline.org
• the Money Advice Service: https://www.moneyadvicetrust.org
• Citizens Advice: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk
• StepChange Debt Charity: https://www.stepchange.org

A Liability Order is granted to City of Doncaster Council by a Magistrates Court after a Summons has been sent to you for non-payment of your Business Rates.

It gives City of Doncaster Council the legal power to take further action to recover unpaid Business Rates.

This might include passing your debt to an Enforcement Agent, commencing Bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings, or applying for your committal to prison.

Please look at the following list of defences, and if you think any one of these apply in your case, you can attend court on the date given on the Summons and ask to speak to the Magistrate. For further information about this please see the Letter from the Court that was included with your Summons.

You should always contact the Business Rates on 01302 734454 (option 2) before the court date to discuss your case – for example, if your defence is that you have paid your Business Rates, staff may be able to trace any missing payments or advise you further without any need to attend court.

The following list includes defences which may be considered applicable to applications for liability orders and have been accepted by the courts as being valid:

1. That the property in respect of which the amount is due did not appear for the relevant period on the local rating list.
2. The ratepayer was not in occupation of the premises, and it was occupied by someone else. Note if the ratepayer has gone out of occupation they will remain liable for empty property rates for the period to when their rateable occupation ceased, to the end of their lease or tenancy agreement.
3. That the rate has been paid as per the bill and you have proof of payment.
4. That bankruptcy/insolvency proceedings have commenced against the named ratepayer.
5. Although you occupy only part of the premises in one assessment you are being charged for the whole property and other businesses are in occupation of other parts of the premises.
6. The bill, reminder notice and summons have not been served in accordance with National Non-Domestic Rating (Collection & Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989.
7. The ratepayer is deceased.
8. That application was made more than six years after the first demand notice was issued.

In addition to the defences established by case law, the following are valid defences by virtue of statutory provision:

1. The defendant is unable to pay because of relevant service under the Reserve and Auxiliary Forces (Protection of Civil Interest) Act 1951.
2. An Administration Order has been made either under Part 2 of the Insolvency Act 1986 or s.112 of the County Courts Act 1984 and the debt is scheduled in accordance with s.113.
3. A winding up order has been made.
4. The property is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes and the entitlement to Mandatory Relief has not been granted.
5. Billing and enforcement requirements have not been complied with for example the wrong multiplier has been used.

The following are NOT valid defences, and cannot be considered by the Court:

• You cannot afford to pay the amount due.
• You have an appeal outstanding with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), e.g. to reduce your Rateable Value.

Yes, we will consider making an arrangement with you, but the Liability Order and costs may still be obtained from the Court.

There is no need to attend court, you can contact us on 01302 734454 (option 2). You may be able to make a payment arrangement including Summons and Liability Order costs at a frequency that suits your needs and over a longer period of time.

If further action is necessary Business Rates staff will always work with you to find the best solution to pay what you owe. If specific payment terms cannot be agreed then recovery action will continue. This means that the following options may be used to clear your debts once the Liability Order has been obtained:

• A visit by an enforcement Agent who can seize certain goods that you own and sell them at auction. Please note substantial costs will be incurred for any Enforcement Agent visit.
• An application for bankruptcy or liquidation
• An application for your committal to prison if you refuse to pay or make no attempts to resolve the issue with a member of staff.

Please be aware that once a Summons and Liability Order have been obtained, if it then becomes necessary to pass your account to an Enforcement Agent for further action, the following costs would be added to your account. It is therefore in your interests to make contact as early as possible.

a) Notice of Enforcement (instruction to take action) £75.00 per Liability Order

b) First visit by an Enforcement Agent – fixed fee of £235.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00

c) Sale and removal of goods – fixed fee of £110.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00 plus reasonable storage and auctioneer fees.