Paying an invoice

You can pay online your:

council tax;
Business Improvement District (BID) levy;
housing benefit overpayment; and,
non-domestic (business) rate.

All other invoiced payments are known as "Corporate Debt / Customer Accounts".

Pay an invoice online (opens new window)
Please note

Not all invoices can be paid online.
Invoices are due immediately unless otherwise agreed.
Payment options can be found on the back of your invoice.
If invoices remain unpaid, are not queried, or if a payment plan has not been agreed then debt recovery proceedings will commence. Paying rent in advance/housing scheme invoice statement.

Payments can be made:

through your bank (Please call 01243 534734)
online

Do not forget to quote your rent / license / housing scheme account number in all transactions.

Paying housing benefit overpayments

Payments can be made:

online / telephone banking (details available on the back of the invoice)
debit card by telephone - 01243 534880, select option 4 - Benefit Overpayment Invoice (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
through your bank (details available on the back of the invoice)

Paying other invoices

These include:

Licensing annual fees
Home Care / Careline invoice
Building Control fees invoice
Trade refuse collection invoice
Commercial property / land / rent / lease invoice
Pest control invoice
Hire of facilities invoice

Payments can be made:

online / telephone banking / BACS (details available on the back of the invoice)
debit card by telephone - 01243 534880 option 2 - Customer Accounts (Exchequer) (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
credit card by telephone - 01243 534880 option 2, Customer Accounts (Exchequer) (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
by direct debit (repeat billing customers only)

Please ensure you quote your invoice number.

Paying an invoice - additional help

Customers should understand the priority of debts owed to the council and the consequences of not paying them:

Consequences of not paying debts
Payment owed	Consequence of not paying
Council tax	Can result in an enforcement agent, an attachment to earnings/benefit, or imprisonment
Non-domestic rates	Can result in an enforcement agent, imprisonment or liquidation
BID	Can result in enforcement agent or imprisonment
Rent arrears	Can result in eviction
Licence fees	Can result in the licence being revoked
Court orders	Can result in County Court bailiff action
Housing benefit	Can result in attachment of earnings/benefit and County Court recovery action
Invoiced debts	Can result in withdrawal of service and County Court recovery action

Additional help and advice can be obtained from the following Independent Organisations.

Advice UK - Advice Providers Network (opens new window)

Age UK West Sussex (opens new window)

Citizens Advice Bureau - Chichester and District (opens new window)

Step Change debt charity (opens new window)

Recovery and enforcement action

If you are having financial difficulties it is important that you talk to us. Help and advice is available - see our 'Paying an invoice - additional help' page.
If you have a query regarding a service please contact the relevant department direct.
Early communication is really important in helping to solve problems.
If payment is still not received the debt will be passed to the Revenues Enforcement team.

Actions which may be taken

The following action may be taken if a payment plan is not agreed:

Final court action warning letter

A final court action warning letter will be issued. This includes a financial information form which invites a proposal for payment of the debt, however, it may not always be appropriate to accept payment by instalments. If you believe you should not have to pay the bill at this stage you must tell us. The court will expect you to act reasonably in exchanging information and documents relevant to the proceedings, and you should respond within 7 days. If court proceedings are issued it may affect your credit rating and you will be liable for any additional legal fees incurred. Late payment interest and additional costs will be claimed on all qualifying debts.

County Court proceedings

After a Final Court Action Warning letter has been issued, if the balance remains unpaid a County Court claim may be issued. This will result in a County Court Judgement (CCJ) which will affect your credit rating. Any costs incurred will be payable by you.

Once a CCJ has been obtained the court will be instructed to enforce payment. This can be through:

An order to attend the court for questioning
An attachment of earnings
Enforcement Agent action to seize goods
Bankruptcy proceedings (for debts over £750)
Third party debt order taken directly out of an account
A charging order may be obtained on your property which will remain in place until the property is sold. This may be enforced sooner by requesting an order for sale

Collection agency

Outstanding invoices may be referred to a collection agency who will call at your property to collect the outstanding amount.

Corporate Debt Recovery Policy - Appendix 2 - Oct 2024 (Word doc, 70 KB)

Paying an invoice - contact us

Invoices are due immediately, reminders will be sent if payment is not received.

If you are having financial difficulty, it is important that you talk to us. Help and advice is available - please see the 'Additional help - paying an invoice' page.

If you have a query regarding a service, please contact the relevant department direct. Early communication is really important in helping to solve problems. The council will expect you to act reasonably in exchanging information and documents relevant to the invoice:

Housing Benefit invoice payments are dealt with by the Housing Benefit team
Housing invoices are dealt with by the Housing team
All other invoices are dealt with by the Exchequer team
Invoices which are subject to recovery action are dealt with by the Recovery and Enforcement team