What happens if you don't pay your rates
Land & Property Services (LPS) is responsible for collecting rates. Paying your rates is a legal obligation. LPS will take legal action to get unpaid rates.
If you don't pay your rates
LPS will take legal action against you if you don't pay your rates. This means:
- additional costs for you to pay
- your credit rating could be affected
- you could be made bankrupt
- your home could be repossessed
LPS can refer your debt to a debt collection agency
- Contact Land & Property Services
Legal action to recover unpaid rates
LPS will issue a Process in Debt Proceedings against you. Therefore, you will be charged extra costs on top or your unpaid rate bill amount.
If you pay your rate debt and any extra costs before the court date, LPS will not take any further legal action against you.
If you don't pay your rate debt and any extra costs, the case will go to the magistrate's court on the day stated.
Court hearing
If you want to dispute the debt or have a legal matter to bring to the magistrate's attention, you are required to go to court to give evidence.
You will receive notification shortly after the hearing.
Recovering unpaid rates
If you don't pay the full overdue amount or make an arrangement to pay this, LPS will ask the Enforcement of Judgments Office to issue a Notice of Intention.
You must pay within ten days. If you don’t, LPS will lodge the debt for enforcement with the Enforcement of Judgments Office. This could result in:
- your name appearing in Stubb's Gazette, which will affect your credit rating
- additional costs of £150 to £250 depending on the amount owed
- Attachment of Earning Order, where regular payments will be deducted from your salary/wages
- an Order Charging Land, the debt will be recovered if the property is sold
- a Garnishee Order served on a bank or building society to make it pay out money from your account to clear the debt
- a Seizure Order which enables the Enforcement of Judgments Office to seize personal property or valuables to cover all or part of the debt
- a Statutory Demand for debt over £750, which could lead to bankruptcy proceedings against you