Unpaid business rates

Final Notices

When a Final Notice is issued you lose the right to pay by instalments. Instead, you have to pay the full balance by the date stated on the notice. If you do not pay the full balance a summons will be issued for which you will incur court costs.

 Why has a Final Notice been issued?

  • You have not paid the correct amount of your instalment by the correct date as shown on your bill
  • You have not kept up to date with your payments after receiving a reminder
  • Your payment had not reached your account when the Final Notice was issued

What to do if you have paid the correct amount on the correct date

If you've paid the correct amount by the correct date you'll need to check whether the payment has cleared. You can confirm this by checking your bank statement. If the payment has cleared you will need to show us proof. Once we've seen it we'll update your account.

You will need to provide the following as proof of payment:

  • your bank or credit card statement showing the payment
  • a receipt of the payment
  • any other valid proof that you have to clearly show the payment in question

Please submit the proof with a cover letter, explaining which payment has gone missing, using the evidence form.

What to do if you didn't pay the correct amount or missed a payment

You must pay the full balance shown on the Final Notice within seven days. This will bring your account up to date.

You can pay using one of the following payment methods:

What will happen if you do not pay the Final Notice

You must pay the amount you owe within 7 days of the date of issue on the Final Notice. If you fail to pay it, you could get a summons.

When a summons is issued, you will incur costs of £150.00. This will increase the amount you have to pay. However, the council has a duty to protect public funds, and the summons allows more debt recovery options.

If you don't pay the full amount when you're sent a summons, including £150.00 costs, we'll ask the court for a Liability Order. The date of the hearing will be on the summons. Payment must have been received on your Business Rate Account for the Liability Order application to cease. You can check this on your MyHarrow Account.

What to do if you cannot pay the Final Notice

  • Please check whether you are entitled to receive any Reduction or Relief.This may not prevent a summons being issued. However, it could reduce the amount to be paid, making it easier for you to manage payments.
  • Please pay as much of the arrears as you can reasonably afford. Paying anything less than the full amount may not prevent a summons being issued. However, it will make it easier to agree a payment arrangement after a summons is sent.
  • Please check if you are paying over 10 months or 12. If over 10 months, you can ask for your payments to be extended to March of each year. This will reduce the monthly payment you need to make. You can do this by selecting 'My query is not listed' on the Business Rates Enquiry form. You will then be sent a new bill telling you the reduced amount to pay.
  • You may be entitled to additional support for other debts that you may have. Check www.businessdebtline.org