What to do if you can't pay your business rates

Contact us

Contact us as soon as possible to report a change, or if you're struggling to pay your business rates. We can change your payment date or arrange a payment plan to help you.

You should also check if you can get:

• Small Business Rate Relief if your business property has a rateable value of £15,000 or less
• other business rates discounts - for example if your business is a charity, pub or local newspaper

When you miss a payment

If you miss a payment, the following steps happen automatically:

1. We'll send you a reminder within 12 days of a missed payment
2. If you don't respond to the reminder within 7 days, you'll get a court summons that includes extra costs of up to £100
3. If you still don't pay, the Magistrates Court may give you a Liability Order with extra costs of £31.50, bringing the total costs to £131.50
4. Your debt is then passed to our enforcement team and could lead to further increased costs, removal of goods or business insolvency